Lately I've been on what you could call a “health food
kick.” I spend much of my time reading nutritional books, discovering new
recipes, learning details about vitamins and minerals, and even watching food
documentaries. It’s a bit of a health food craze.
When I first started becoming deeply interested in this
topic, I had a difficult time deciding what I wanted to eat. I learned quickly
that the meals I’d been eating weren't exactly nutritious, but I wasn't learning fast enough which meals were
nutritious. This left me clueless around appropriate meal times as to which
foods I should choose to eat. (To be honest, it was actually quite stressful. I
don’t recommend becoming nutritionally aware in this way).
As time went on, I discovered a more efficient and less
stressful way to put my new-found knowledge of dietetics to use. Rather than
omit from my diet every food that was lacking in nutritional value, I instead
began to incorporate slowly foods that are nutritionally valuable and
beneficial. As I continued to add the healthful foods into my diet, other foods
began to gradually disappear from my fridge, pantry, and shopping list.
It then became about making nutritionally sound decisions
rather than attempting to avoid making unhealthy ones, and somehow that is less
stressful. Making a positive decision can be empowering, but trying to avoid a
negative decision can be tiring, distressing, and nerve-wracking.
Ultimately, it was
about adding what I found to be beneficial and allowing what was unprofitable
to be pushed out.
Makes sense, huh? Though I attained this concept through the challenge of
stocking my pantry with nutritious “superfoods,” I have learned that it can be
valuable in various different aspects of my life.
Many times Christians may ask, “What exactly can we do?” when questioning where the
lines of the “Christian dos-and-don’ts” are drawn. They want to know exactly
where the line is so they may push it as far as it can possibly go, enabling
them to sacrifice and compromise as little of life as possible.
Though I have before asked this question myself, I find it
to be unnecessary and deeply counterproductive.
The way to live a Christian life is not to ask, “How far can
I push it? How far can I go before it becomes sinful?” Though such deserves a
complex answer, I simply believe instead you should focus on incorporating the
things you know are good into your
life, and allow the bad to be pushed out.
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you
do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31
Whatever you do,
do it all for the glory of God.
Hypothetically if you were doing everything for the glory of God, there would be no need to ask how
much you could compromise his commandments. You wouldn't need to! Your life
would be filled with glorifying moments, acts and words, leaving no room for the
sinful ones.
Isn't this what we should strive for? Shouldn't we spend our time incorporating good acts into our lives and
contemplating how we can live, speak, and work for his glory? Shouldn't our
sights be fastened on what we can do
for God rather than what we can’t do for ourselves?
If we are solely
focused on living for God, we won’t have time to examine how we can live for ourselves as we push God’s boundaries and test his mercy.
Quite frankly, it doesn't matter how slightly or strongly we
push a boundary, because any kind of compromise is less than glorifying to God.
There is simply no point in asking, “How can I technically follow this but still get around it?” because in
strategizing potential loopholes you are not glorifying God, which means you’re
already a step behind what you ought to be doing.
So begin filling your pantry of life with righteous and
glorifying ways, and gradually those that are unprofitable will be forced out. After
all, God gives us a finite amount of minutes each day; we can only fit a
certain amount of life into that time. Make it good life.
Just as I fill my pantry more each day with nutritious (and delicious)
foods, I plan to work at filling my heart with God in the same way: forcing out
the bad by filling it fully with the good.
“No good tree bears
bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit … A good man brings good things
out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out
of the evil stored up in his heart.” Luke 6:43,45
