"Something I see again and again is a desire to do the most convenient thing ~ to find a nutritional solution that involves as little effort as possible with as little change in beliefs too."
Ian Marber ( The Food Doctor) in his book Super Eating
I was reading this book aloud to my youngest son (15) this morning.
As I read the above statement I was struck with how that specific truth was applicable in almost every area of my life.
You see it on the show What Not To Wear.... in the area of fashion and make-up.
Most everyone on the show wants quick, comfortable, easy, convenient...
...but expect results that only time, effort and attention to detail can provide.
You see it on X-Weighted, The Biggest Loser and others....
What's convenient...can kill you.
You see it on the emotional front when we are grabbing minutes and seconds ..maybe not even those..to get healthy...
...but fail to take the necessary time and thoughtful approach to the areas weakened by time and neglect.
And our marriages fail.
Our families disintegrate.
And we medicate.
And society crumbles.
How convenient.
In the nutritional aspect of our lives..well...Marber put it perfectly...
We want maximum results from little effort...and for goodness sakes don't challenge my beliefs!
And I gaze at the scale in disbelief.. or tug at my clothes as they start feeling tight.
I huff and puff going up the stairs.
My bad.
Have you ever thought of how much more convenient life is now than it used to be?
With internet, cell phones, vehicles, self-check-out, online shopping... the list goes on and on...
and on....
What do we do with all that extra time ?
All that convenience?
We add more.
Instead of deepening what we have.
Enriching what we value.
Protecting what is right and true.
Healing...
Resting...
Being...
We even have Convenience Stores....
How convenient is that?
Well now..onto the spirtual front...
Ouch..
Can you see where this is heading?
I have my hands over my eyes!
Seriously... I do...
I am flinching on the inside.
My teeth are clenched.
How convenient is this... my 5 minutes with God....(more or less)
...out of my 16 hour day.
I stand amazed at his mercy.
How gracious he is to one who calls them-self: " One of His."
We demand such performance in education from our children...from ourselves
....reading, writing, arithmetic...sciences, humanities...the list goes on...
Hours of study...
So we can...
What?
Live well?
Be happy?
Be successful?
How convenient.
I woke up early today to spend time reading my bible.
When I was done and I had prayed and turned to do something else, I was struck with the notion that devotions weren't enough.
What a notion to be struck with!
At 6:30 am too!
IT'S. NOT.ENOUGH.
It's really not.
What I needed was to BE devoted.
To maintain an awareness at all time ...of who I belonged to... and what that means....
..how it looks...how it's lived....
A life devoted to God is NOT convenient.
It means letting other things go.
It involves...
Thought.
Effort.
Sacrifice.
Humility.
Time.
Pressure.
Effort.
Perseverance.
Suffering.
Discipline.
Intention
How inconvenient !
Where does that fit in my : "Well Planned Day" ??????
Today I have decided that I don't want a convenient life.
I want my beliefs challenged.
How about you?
there is so much attention on eating fads, trying the next fantastic workout,having the best of clothes,trying to out do the next person...when will it end.
ReplyDeleteIn the end it is not those things that will get us through "The Gates" now is it??It is our walk with God.
I totally agree that we all need to spend more time enriching our spiritual lives. If we can workout for 1, 2 hours etc.then we certainly can find the time for God.
Nice read and good thougts!!