February 6, 2019
Hey friends,
Have you ever seen the Weight Watchers commercials with Oprah and she says, “I. LOVE. BREAD.” I am the same way, except my food vice is Hot Cheetos. I have never met a hot cheeto I did not like. Puffy ones, regular ones, crunchy ones...they are all good to me. (I know what you’re thinking, Kayce...how are you going to tie God into a convo about Hot Cheetos? JUST KEEP READING.) If you have been in my life for a while, you know that I have always battled my weight. I have been on constant diets/plans/journeys etc. In the past year, I have been striving towards an all-around healthier life in terms of physical health, spiritual health, and mental health – and I’d say it’s going great so far. However, anyone who has ever been on a diet before knows that no matter how well you are doing...the cravings still come.
I was having a conversation with my mom recently (who is KILLING IT on Weight Watchers, BTW!) and we were talking about our cravings. She told me that she was having a sweet tooth this particular week and I told her, and I quote, “I am sweating thinking about Hot Cheetos.” (So attractive, I know.) Her response was, “you just need to eat some and be done with it.”
I could do that. I could decide – “This craving is too much for me, forget the diet, I can have a bag of Hot Cheetos this ONE time!” But, how detrimental would that be to my diet as a whole? While feeding that craving could help satisfy right now, what is going to happen when I get the craving again? Or what if that leads me to binge eat on bad food? (Because that’s what it did TBH) If we are being honest, there's no way that I would just have hot cheetos one last time and think, "Okay, I'm done." If I'm weak about the craving once, and do not train myself to not listen to it - then 11/10 I will give in to the craving again.
You see, like food cravings, we all have sin struggles that we have battled/fought with/are running from. No matter how great you feel like you are doing in your walk with Jesus, like food cravings, the sin cravingswill still come. I want you to think about your sin struggle. JP Pokluda says it best, “There is no one last time, when you feed something it grows.” Friends, there is no such thing as “one last time”. If we continuously are in that mindset that we will reach a “one last time”, we are never going to stop. I know that Hot Cheetos are not good for me, but if I feed that craving then I am allowing that craving to control me. You see how it works?
You don’t submit to the sin, you submit the sin to the Savior.
Following Jesus means that we are to deny ourselves and pick up our cross: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” – Matthew 16:24
I’m not sure what your different struggles look like, but I know I spent a majority of my college career doing whatever I wanted, when I wanted to do it – and that led me to a place of brokenness, depression, and could have easily lead down a path of addiction. I lived a life of intentional sin – “Oh, this is fine, I can just ask for forgiveness later”, or, “This really isn’t that big of a deal”, or “Just do it and be done with it.” Friends, that is a detrimental lie that the enemy wants us to believe and if you are serious about your relationship with the Lord, you would never take advantage of His grace.Hebrews 10:26 says, “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.”
If you know that hanging out with certain people causes you to run in the opposite direction of God’s embrace, then stop hanging out with them.
If you know that drinking causes you to do stupid things that you will wake up regretting the next day, then stop going out.
If you know that watching that TV show or movie causes your mind to wander to places that it shouldn’t, then quit watching it.
Sin is like a fire being fed by oxygen, even the slightest gust of wind can erupt it into a wildfire – into something you can’t control. When you knowyour sin struggle and choose to not do anything about it, you are literally pointing a fan to a fire and allowing it to take control. You are fanning the flame, and eventually you will be consumed by that fire. Something that seems so little, can become deadly. To stop a fire, you have to snuff it – cut off the source that is giving it life. If you are trying to put out that flame, you are not going to blow on it and say that it’ll go out eventually. You have to put it out completely. In the same way, you need to do that with your sin. Friends, we have to stop choosing our instant gratification over the eternal satisfaction that Jesus offers. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather do it now than when I’m standing face-to-face with Him in Glory. Quit fanning the flame of sin in your life.
Pastor Michael Todd said once, “A sign of Christian maturity is knowing that you can, but choosing not to.” In other words, I know I can eat that whole bag of Hot Cheetos, but I’m not going to because it would hinder me while I am dieting. In the same way, I know I could go drink at the bar and satisfy the part of me that wants to numb out life, but I also know that God’s grace is far more sufficient for me. In the end, I will choose God’s grace EVERY single time.
You have a choice, friend. It’s either God’s grace or it’s not – quit feeding your soul with the lie of one last time. Quit running back to, being entertained by, ignoring the things that Christ died for.
It is okay to acknowledge that you sin and know that we will never live a life without sin until we are in Heaven with Jesus. What is not okay is knowing that you have a sin struggle that hinders your relationship with God and choosing that over Him.
There will be times when we choose this world over God. Intentional or not, that is just our human nature. But, rest easy in the truth that God will always choose YOU, friend. Every. Single. Time. He will choose you – our God will always choose the sheep that wanders.
“What do you think if a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go look for the one that wandered off? And when he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” Matthew 18:12-14
Transform your mind (Romans 12:2) . Fix your sight on things above (Colossians 3:2). Run into the embrace of the loving Father – He will free you from all sin (Matthew 11:28-30).
No more Hot Cheetos and Intention Sin 2K19,
Kayce
Labeling Specialist (< That was for you, Alyssa.)