An Easier Way?

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'" Matthew 16:24

I was listening to a sermon this past Sunday and just a small snippet of it focused on the temptation on going an easier way. The entire sermon was on living up to your potential and not taking the 'shadow mission' which looks good but is 10 degrees off our actual purpose in life. If Esther would have taken her 'shadow mission' she would have just been a beauty queen instead of serving her purpose of saving Israel. We have a unique plan from God, but we need to keep on the right track.

The speaker then went on to talk about Jesus' suffering and how sometimes to live up to our mission, we're going to have to take the tough road. One example he used was from Matthew 4:2-4: "After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.' Jesus answered, 'It is written "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."'" First of all, I can't imagine fasting for 40 days and nights. Trying to fast one day has felt like an eternity to me. Jesus had the power to make bread for Himself, and yet He knew that He must withhold for some reason that God had called Him to - maybe to make the exact point that we are to live on the words of God.

His point in these verses was that Satan kept trying to tempt Him to take the easy road. That's why when Peter said that Jesus didn't have to suffer on the cross, Jesus answered him so sharply with "get behind me, Satan!" See Matthew 16:20-24. Jesus knew that the suffering on the cross was God's will so that we could be reconciled to the Father.

As I thought about these words and everything Jesus went through, I realized that there probably must be some suffering in this journey of losing weight. Saying no to particular foods feels like suffering to me! Exercising can feel like suffering. There are days that I want God to just snap His fingers and make me skinny. And I firmly believe He could. But, He has a grander plan for my life. Suffering is probably a part of that so that I learn to live on His Word in the process. As the above verse states, we're going to have to deny ourselves to follow Jesus. Let's start with food & comfort and see where God takes us on this journey to be what He has called us to be. Pray for me, and I will pray for you!

Dear Heavenly Father, I lay myself and my dear friends reading this down before you. The sound of suffering sounds... well, painful, to be honest. I don't like suffering. You know my heart, Lord. And yet, I truly do want to be Your follower. Help me to deny myself and take up my cross to be who You want me to be. Help those reading this as well. God, I can't imagine the torture of fasting 40 days and nights. Please help us live on Your words rather than the comfort of food. Please help us in this journey to be healthy and thin... may we not just seek the world's approval but rather Your good & pleasant will for our lives. We honor You and lay our hearts & bodies & minds before You. Lord, have Your way. Your kingdom come, Your will be done. We love You and honor You today. In Jesus' name, AMEN!