Working out Salvation with Fear and Trembling

So, you’ve heard the expression, this is the first day of the rest of your life? Well, this truly is the first day of the rest of my life.

So, before Christmas last year I was diagnosed with Type-2 Diabetes. I thought my life was over. It just seemed surreal. Pricking my fingers constantly, watching what to eat (and not just watch it going into my mouth), exercising. I was reaping years of poor eating habits and laziness. For years I had heard about getting in shape from those who cared, and frankly, I didn’t.

When you’re married though you’re not just living for yourself anymore. It’s one thing for your mom to tell you to get into shape, it’s another when your wife is worried how long she’ll have you around after only a year of marriage. Yet, I still didn’t do what I should. I made excuses not to exercise, I cheated on my eating by getting a candy bar when I filled up with gas and other such things.

Then my mom was also diagnosed with Type-2 Diabetes. The contrast to how she approached it and I approached it was night and day. She immediately removed the carbohydrates from her diet and checked her blood sugar levels constatly. In the short time since being diagnosed she has lost an incredible amount of weight. Now, the doctors are allowing her to go off her diabetes medications and regulate her sugars by diet alone. I’m still popping Metformin daily! They told her if she lost some more weight basically the diabetes would be reversed and she could eat whatever she wanted again. Here I am, unchanged size wise, and really, unchanged habits wise. Just maintaining.

Now, I have a little one on the way. I’m not just living for me, or for my wife, but for my unborn son or daughter. Would they prefer a father who will be around a long time or only a short time. A no brainer to be sure.

And, as the new pastor of a church, I have a church family I live for too. I promised them to be with them for the rest of my life should the Lord take me, they direct me out, or the Spirit does. It would seem to be better for the rest of my life to be 60 years and not 20-30.

So, today was the first day of the rest of my life. With the Lord’s help I’m turning a new page in my life. I’m not living for myself. I’m not letting my body be my master. I am going to master my body.

So now, I’m severly limiting my carb intake. I’m going to get my blood sugars into good levels and lose some serious weight. I even went out and bought that protein shake stuff today to take to help boost my protein intake! And I started the Power90 system today with 40 minutes of serious cardio. I feel dead now. But…

Through the faint scent of death… I also see life. Hope. Time. Time is always against us. We have a few short years to serve Christ here on earth. I’m resolved to increase those years as much as possible to do as much as I can for Christ, my family, my church, and the world that I can do before the Lord calls me home. And if the Lord calls me home sooner rather than later, it won’t because I let the curse win. I am going to beat my body into submission and make it my servant.

Pray with me now that I would have the strength to commit to this and stay with this. I’m getting myself healthy, fit, and trim. I plan to be here for many, many more years serving my church, loving my wife, and raising my children.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life… and life is good.