“In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” (Psalms 5:3)
I once wrote a column about a diet I tried that prompted a reader from Roxboro to telephone me. “Could you help me?” she said. “I don’t know what to do!”
I understood her pain. I’ve gained a lot more weight than I’ve ever lost and will never forget the depression and sense of defeat that accompanies weight gain. In fact, research tells us that the vast majority of people who lose weight eventually gain it all back, and then some. So I realize that my fight with obesity will never end. Indeed, it is a life-long struggle.
I encouraged the caller to consult a physician who specializes in weight loss, but she confided in me that she could not afford to see a doctor. I then realized that I should follow the advice I’ve given so many times and suggested she turn to her church family. However, I emphasized that her church family was not just those with whom she attended church, but anyone or any church in her community that was Christian.
“Find yourself a good weight-loss program through one of the churches where you live,” I suggested. “If your church doesn’t have one, get on the phone and call some of the larger churches. You don’t have to attend their church to attend their class. I promise you there’s one in your area.”
Church-sponsored weight loss programs are popping up everywhere. Finally the Church is beginning to realize that it can no longer ignore the personal problems with which we all struggle. Issues like money management, weight loss, and tobacco addictions are just of few of the problems that haunt the everyday, run-of-the-mill Christians. Many of today’s Christians need more than just a good sermon.
The truth is churches need to show Christians how to use the Bible to deal with the everyday problems we face. I learned, for example, that the Bible offers a lot of advice about what and how we should eat. The problem is we’re too busy thinking about our next meal to notice it. Shamefully, food becomes our god and distances in many ways from the God we know.
The most difficult adjustment we have to make, besides reducing the amount we eat, is reducing the amount of meat we consume each day. Did you know that the average American eats 225 pounds of meat a year, almost ten ounces a day? Many diets often restrict our intake of meat to as little as four to six ounces a day.
There’s a story in Daniel that supports the low-protein lifestyle change that many of our doctors recommend. Daniel and several other Hebrews in Babylonian captivity were ordered to give up their largely vegetarian diet in favor of the fatty meat and wine of the royal court, into which they had been forcibly adopted.
According to Daniel 1, the prophet persuaded their guard to allow them to continue a diet of grain, vegetables, fruit, and water for 10 days, while the heavier fare was given to a group of servants. At the end of the test, the exiles were in such demonstrably better health that they were allowed to go on eating as they wished.
I have also found it that the Bible provides a good bit of instruction about how to lose weight. It also responds equally well to those of us who are having problems with money, marriage, work…you name it.
It’s the most popular book ever published and almost every house has at least one of them, somewhere. Pick yours up and ask God to help you find the answers to your everyday questions. You’ll be surprised by what you’ll learn and you’ll just love the new friend you’ve made.
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