Something just wasn’t right. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but something didn’t feel normal. It started out simple enough. A symptom here or there though every abnormal symptom could be explained. I was thirsty a lot……well, I had been working outside in the summer heat quite a bit. I was constantly tired all the time…..again, I had been working outside. Maybe I was overworking myself and I just needed to slow down. There was still that nagging in the back of my head that something was wrong. I finally went to the doctor. He ran a few tests and asked, “Who is the diabetic in your family?” My response was, “Huh? There aren’t any diabetics in my family, I don’t think?!?” His response, “Well there are now.” My head was spinning with the implications. All I could see was a shortened life span and needles…….LOTS of needles. I HATE needles! “How can we fix it? What do I need to do?” I craved answers to my questions, all the while kicking myself for not going sooner. He sat down beside me and we spoke for about fifteen minutes. Everything else faded as I hung to his every word. This diagnosis felt unbelievable. Honestly, it felt like a death sentence. My response may seem dramatic to you but this prognosis was unexpected. I had just received a punch to the gut. I should have expected as much, after all, my lifestyle reflected the diagnosis. It was 2002 and I was morbidly obese at that time, tipping the scales at nearly 400 pounds. I was unhealthy and didn’t see a need to change. The symptoms were there all along but I ignored or reasoned them away.
You know what I’m talking about because you’ve experienced it to. Something just isn’t/wasn’t quite right. We convince ourselves there’s nothing to worry about. That’s the way sin works. Rarely does the devil slap us in the face with a blatant invitation to involve ourselves in something spiritually unhealthy. It starts small. You let your Bible reading slip, stop praying like you should, skip a few church services. Things that once bothered you don’t seem important any longer. You begin allowing your morals to slip a little. You begin the process of convincing yourself, “It isn’t THAT bad, is it? Nah! I’m fine.” We conveniently turn a blind eye while sin slips in because we desire to please the flesh. When we finally realize things are out of hand it’s too late. The damage has been done. You feel guilty and, quite frankly, like a total failure. But with God there’s ALWAYS hope. Scripture reminds us, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” [Rom 3:23] You’re in good company. The decision to overcome lies solely in your hands. Don’t like the way things have turned out? Make better decisions. Frustrated with the consequences you’re left to face because of your actions? Change your habits. We know when something is wrong. We sense it. When you feed that “flesh” monster long enough he will grow and eventually wreak havoc in your life spiritually, mentally, financially, and so forth. Our Christian lives are a constant dying to the old man and taking on that Christ-like identity instead. Maybe it’s time to kill somebody–maybe it’s time to crucify that fleshly man. But be warned, you will have to kill him EVERY SINGLE DAY!!! Not only is it important to accept God’s grace and mercy in our own lives but to extend that same compassion and forgiveness to others. I’m not encouraging you to become a door mat for people to walk over. But if we can’t forgive others how to we expect God to, “…forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1 John 1:9] No one said the Christian life would be easy but He did assure us we wouldn’t walk this road alone.
Be encouraged today. We all make mistakes but it is imperative we get up, dust ourselves off, deal with the consequences, and continue moving forward. The opinions of others don’t matter. One day, “every knee will bow and every tongue confess…” that Jesus is Lord. We are all in the same boat here. You have one Judge and His opinion is the only one that matters.