Letting Go of the Fatty Inside Me: Day 1

Surely you've already assumed that this is about food. And you're right. And you're probably also thinking, "Ashley, you weigh barely more than a feather, so you could hardly be considered a fatty!" If only you knew how big I really am how much I eat! ESPECIALLY when it comes to fast food. From McDonalds to Checkers to Burger King to Chic-fil-A (yes, I said it. Chic-fil-a), I can throw down on a cheap (monetarily) and costly (to my health) meal at just about any fast food joint.

Now before I get too ahead of myself, let me clarify something. The fatty inside me consumes more than just food. It also consumes a ton of....here's a hint, it also starts with an "f"! Think, think, think.... Okay, okay, I'll tell you! Facebook! I'm sure you're probably like, ummm consuming Facebook? Is it really that serious? Well, for me it is. I definitely believe there can be too much of certain good things, including Facebook. I love being updated on my friends' lives, seeing the latest pictures of what is going on in their lives, and keeping in touch with people I haven't seen in years or people too far away to keep in touch with them otherwise. What happened in my case was I began viewing too much of a world that wasn't real. Sure, life looks great when we've got our make-up on, showing our best sides, friends, family, school, and church fairly ordered and pretty close to perfect. What I've come to realize though, and what the Holy Spirit had to tell me is that by spending an inordinate amount of time on this glorified social networking site, I can lose sight of the realities of what is occurring in my own life, as well as in the lives of the people whose pages I tend to frequent. Most of the time people only show you what they want you to see. Taking this into consideration, knowing my imperfections and the things I would love to have better or changed in my life can lead me into a state of discontentment, which is not at all honoring to God.

It was more than just me consuming too much fast food and Facebook. They were consuming me! My time and energy seemed to evaporate as I made one more stop at McDonalds or checked my Facebook for the billionth time that day. God has really convicted me, and a couple Scriptures come to mind about this.

Redeeming the time because the days are evil. ~Ephesians 5:16

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. ~1 Corinthians 6:19-20

According to Blue Letter Bible, "redeeming" in this context means to make wise and sacred use of every opportunity for doing good. I have read elsewhere that it also means to take advantage of or to seize the opportunity. Time is so precious, and most of us don't realize it until we look backwards at lost time, seeing how quickly life is moving. I would hate to look back and think, Wow, I was a horrible steward of my time! I spent more time on Facebook than I did with Jesus or ministering to people or sharing the gospel! My days seem incredibly short when I spend the majority of them on the computer, and I can only wonder how much time I'll have left over with no Facebook at all.

The verse in 1 Corinthians actually deals with sexual immorality within the context, but I believe it has application to the way I eat as well! I may be skinny on the outside, but it would really suck if I (God forbid!) suffer from a heart attack at the age of 25 because my arteries are so clogged from the exorbitant amount of junk I can consume several times a day. I don't think I'm honoring God with this body He has blessed me with  by eating food that is not good for my health (bad steward of my body/health), eats up my money (bad steward of funds), and evaporates my time (bad steward of time.... Hmm, I'm seeing a stewardship theme here!) My new life was paid for in the death of Christ, and since I'm no longer my own, I can hardly consider it only my business how I take care of myself. The Spirit lives inside me!

Anyways, let me stop being long-winded and get to the point. Remember when I had a fast food fast back in December? Well I'm having another one, but this time I'm adding Facebook to the fast! I deactivated it around 12:01 AM today, and it's like a weight is off. (Interesting, huh?) As of right now, I feel no compulsion to go back to it at month's end, but we'll see. Fast food is a different story, hehe. I'm definitely giving myself an opportunity to let the self-control fruit of the Spirit begin to flourish. I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

Can't Keep My Eyes Off of You...

Ever heard the song "You and Me" by Lifehouse? (The title's a line from the song, fyi!) The song is about five years old, but ever since the first time I heard it (and I don't remember when that was!), I was in love with it. Just the sound, and the lyrics, all of it! There's a part of the song that really stands out to me, and it goes like this:

"What day is it, and in what month? The clock never seemed so alive..."

Today when I heard the song (on Cold Case of all places!), I couldn't remember the lyrics as clearly since I hadn't heard it in a while, so off to google I went. I read that line and just started thinking, Wow! I can totally feel what this song is saying here. I mean, it's already MARCH! Over a week into March at that. Just yesterday I was writing out my goals for 2010! "The clock never seemed so alive.." So true! 

I can totally relate this song to other areas of the world and life in general too. I think about the earthquake in Haiti, then Chile, then the landslides in Uganda, the killings in Nigeria, then add to that all of the other things that daily plague nations all over the world: starvation, AIDS, ethnic cleansing, persecution, and so much more; with all of these things occurring, I just can't help but think of the Bible. (Yes, it is possible for a secular song to make me think about the Word! lol)

When I read Matthew 24:3-9, and then look at all of the stuff going on in the world today, I realize that all of these tribulations are only the beginning, and Jesus' return is imminent! Time is passing by soo quickly (see the correlation to "the clock never seemed so alive" now?), and I want to make the most of every moment that the Lord is giving me, making sure that He is honored from the time I wake up in the morning 'til I lay my head on the pillow to sleep at night (well....actually that's usually the morning too since I'm semi-nocturnal hehe). James reminds us in the Bible to always keep our lives in a right perspective:

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 

Well, if I'm only gonna be on this earth for a short period of time, I want to make the most of it, and the best way to do that is to live my temporal life fully surrendered to the One with whom I'll be spending my entire eternal life! I can't keep my eyes off of You, Jesus!