Fatten Me Up!

Dear Friends,

This morning I did a very brave thing. I weighed myself. I’m not sure what came over me, but for some reason I decided it was time to face reality. The news was not good. I headed out to the kitchen determined to change up my eating habits. However, my older brother has always said that’s it’s never a good idea to start a diet on an empty stomach - so I decided to start my new eating regiment right after breakfast. I also decided to wait at least another month or two before stepping on the scale again.

The upside to my early morning experience on the scale was that it got me thinking about how we “weigh” things in life. For example: for me, being “heavy” was not a good thing. However, in our world being a “heavyweight” is positive. That’s because, for the world, “heavyweights, are people who accomplish things through power, influence, and wealth. They are the folks who the world “weighs” as significant and important. But the truth is, not many of us are in that category. So a lot of us go through life confused about what's important, feeling like “lightweights” in this world - like people who don't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

The good news is that God has a different set of scales than the world does. On God's scales, all of the things that are “weighty” on earth, are insignificant. So we can be great achievers in the world, people who have money, and possessions, and power - but when we get placed on God's scales, we're all fluff. That’s because God puts more weight on the unseen qualities in life. 1 Samuel 16:7 puts it like this: “People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” God is more interested in who we are on the inside, and on the condition of our hearts.

Qualities like holiness, obedience, and commitment are the things that tip God’s scales. And the really good news is that God is the one who does all of our “weight management” for His scales. Here’s what I mean by that - when we want to “adjust our weight” in our physical lives, WE have to do all the work. We have to do the dieting, or the bodybuilding - depending on which way we want the weight to be adjusted. However, on God's scales, HE does all the work. He sent His Son to die for our sins, He gives us righteousness through the work Jesus did on the cross. He gives us His Holy Spirit to give us wisdom and help us live how He’s designed to live. God does all the work in helping us “adjust our weight” on His scales.

Romans 3:23-24 puts it like this, "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” God has balanced the scales in our favor. He’s given us all that we need to “make weight” in His world. And that's the best news we will ever receive.

So today, take a minute and pray with me that we will all claim what God has done for us. Let’s thank Him for the work His Son did on the cross in taking away our sins. And then let's pray we will focus on the right standards for our lives, remembering God’s scales. Let’s commit ourselves to living with eternity in mind, letting God transform our hearts and minds to what He wants, so that we can be heavyweights for God.

Amen?

Daniel