I ate Cheez-its today.
This week, I was suppose to stick to a strict diet of fruit, vegetables, and water. But I later thought to myself, Well wait... Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I should eat a healthy breakfast. So I gave myself permission to add eggs and biscuits to the mix. And then I thought to myself, I'm not gonna stick to a diet. Maybe I should consider it a fast so that I take it more seriously. So I began a fast this week. Fruit. Veggies. Water. And an occasional biscuit with eggs. But then I realized that the odds of me actually touching something green were slim to none. So I factored in pasta. I texted my mom and sister a picture of a box of Lean Cuisine Ravioli with Tomato Sauce and asked was it okay for me to eat. I considered the tomato sauce my share of vegetables. So Monday, I ate 2 biscuits and double eggs (2 servings) from the Perry Cafeteria on campus and I drenched it all in syrup. I skipped lunch. Ate my ravioli for supper and some fruit from a fruit cup that I got at the POD later that night. I felt pretty accomplished. I don't know why. It was only the first day and I had already broken so many rules.
Today, I followed a pretty similar diet. 2 biscuits, double eggs - all drenched in syrup. Grabbed a new frozen lunch: Lasagna. It wasn't Lean Cuisine but it was close enough. And then I ate a little more out of my fruit cup. And then a little later, I got a serious case of the munchies. And there were Cheez-its on my desk and so I thought, Ugh crackers are kinda healthy aren't they? So yeah. I ate them all. I even licked my fingers to pick up all the crumbs at the bottom of the bag.
Did I still feel accomplished? Well I did, until I asked myself,
"What if God ate Cheez-its?"
What if God promised us something? What if He promised to make a sacrifice for us and made so many alternations to it that it eventually became something totally different? What if He sacrificed Jesus, just as I had sacrificed my fattening foods. But then thought to Himself, Well I can still sacrifice my Son, but maybe He shouldn't be crucified.
Catch my drift?
We often make promises that we can't stick to. And often those broken promises cause a much bigger impact on our lives than we expect. Maybe if we took the time to think of the promises God has kept all our lives, we would take our commitments to Him more seriously.
This is just a reminder that small changes can make big differences if you let them get out of control.
God's will is perfectly made for you. Relax, take a deep breath, and remember God's biggest sacrifice - His Son.
Then maybe you'll realize you can pass up the Cheez-its in life after all.