Have you ever heard of the two cookie diet? Sounds like something you might read on the front page of a woman's magazine: "EAT COOKIES AND LOSE WEIGHT!!!"
This isn't really a diet. It is a way of life which my very dear friend Pat "imposed" upon her husband early in their marriage and became the way of life for their family. I'm not sure of the reasoning behind Pat's "law" but it must have presented a strong enough motivation for her young active husband to go from an "open cookie jar" policy in his mother's home to the two cookie rule in his own home.
After this morning's message it occurred to me that when Tim and Pat eat only two cookies they are reflecting God's character. What characteristic? Self-control. How is God self-controlled? God never wants more than He needs. God never does more than He intends to do. God always functions within His holiness. His judgments are perfectly measured. His gifts are perfectly distributed according to His will. His power is never out of control (I hate to imagine a God who lacks self-control. What a shattering thought). God exercises self-control perfectly. In this area (and others) Tim and Pat are living representations of God's character.
When I am called to a life of Christian obedience I am called to: a "choice to comply with God's law and conform to God's character conscious of both a reverence for God's judging authority and a trust in God's pardoning and power-giving grace" (Tim Shorey). I have to ask myself: "How am I doing?"
One area in which I want to better represent the character of God is in the area of my eating. Overeating is the nice word for what I am often guilty of. Gluttony is the biblical term. We don't like to use that word but gluttony is simply, "excess in eating."
"Being a living representative of my God" should be the driving motivation for exercising self-control in my eating. "Being a living breathing picture of what God is like" should be all that I need to say "NO" to that extra serving (usually dessert), or that extra treat (large fries), or yet another feast (eating more than I need at the frequent caregroup dinners or church suppers).
I shouldn't need to follow fad diets. Simply exercising self-control (simple only through the powerful help of the Holy Spirit within me) will be enough. But the motivation is just as important as pushing away the plate. Concern for measurements, my bfi or lean body mass, or how I look in my clothes are not godly motivations, for they are all rooted in pride. Compliance to God's law (I Peter 4:7) and conformity to God's character are the only motivations that matter.
Lest anyone get the wrong idea I want to say that self-control and a trim figure is not the same thing. There are those who have medical concerns that make it difficult if not impossible to be at a healthy weight. Some may have gained that weight years ago and now are living a life of self-control but don't "look" like they do.
Isn't it good to know that Jesus knows our frame? He knows our hearts. And isn't it good to know that when the flesh is weak but the spirit is willing, God is right there to assist our spirit. The Holy Spirit (the Helper) dwells within each believer giving us the power to live godly lives.
And isn't it most wonderful that all the self-control in the world cannot gain us peace with God. Christ has done that for us. There is the motivation once again; because he died for me I want to live for Him.
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