When Blood, Sweat and Tears sang, “What goes up, must come down,” I don’t think they were talking about weight loss because what goes up really doesn’t like coming down. I have been on a mission, to transform my lifestyle by replacing a more sedentary lifestyle with an active one, reducing or even eliminating junk food by instilling good eating habits, and focusing more on developing my soul and spirit than pampering my flesh. After two months of determined effort I decided to weigh myself. Lo and behold, I had dropped five pounds. Really? Only five pounds? I expected that what went up would go down easier than that. Then the temptation hits. Why not go out and buy a cart load of junk food. Console yourself because it’s not worth the effort.

Why not just give in or give up when the going gets tough, when the rewards seem not to come at a pace we had had hoped they would. Is it really worth the effort, the self-sacrifice? Five pounds after two months, really? Yet what’s missing in this discussion are other issues, broader than five pounds. With the lifestyle changes, we also have removed TV/movies from our daily habit (though I do still sneak in a ball game once in a while). During this repose on habits that had become so ingrained, there has been a new season, a new release on focusing on things that, for me, really matter.

It has been my desire for many years to go deeper in my relationship with Christ. It has been this longing for more intimacy with God, more awareness of His presence, more focus on prayer that this new season has begun to bring to me. I find myself studying historical figures, such as Dorothea Trudel or Henry Martyn, whose lives seem to reflect the radiance of heaven. I find my thoughts being lifted, my heart finding more expressions of praise, more longing to see others know the goodness of the Lord.

The temptation is always to focus on the five pounds, instead of the gains made. It is easy to be drawn back, instead of pressing forward to those places in the Spirit that await those who are willing to move off the shores of their faith into the depths of His presence.

In this season, I can say that I have tasted anew that the Lord is good, that I am finding my soul refreshed and His presence rich. As with the saints, I simply utter the words, “The Lord is good and He extends His mercies to me everyday.” For that I am truly grateful.

Blessings!

Stay tuned in November. Though we know not the day when Jesus will return, are the signs there that we are quickly moving towards that day?