Why am I fat?

Wow!  Talk about an eye catching headline.  I've been doing some reading on the internet and it seems that news organizations will sensationalize a headline just so you'll click on it.  Hold the phone!  Things on the internet may not be what they seem?!?!  Websites may use some hyperbole to get you to click on an article!?!  I hope you sensed the sarcasm, and I'll also confess this article isn't going to reveal why I'm fat or even if I think I'm fat.  I simply couldn't ignore a chance to put a sensational headline out there and see if it drew you in.  So if you're reading this I apologize for the deception and please continue reading.

Why do we as humans put off doing what we know is good for us unless we see immediate rewards for doing so?  I think we can all agree that eating healthy and exercising will help us live a better life, but a lot of times the rewards of such a lifestyle aren't immediately felt and consequently the adverse effects of not eating right and not exercising aren't immediately evident either.  Without the instant gratification we tend not to want to put the effort in for the long haul pay off...right.  Diet and exercise are a great example.  A thought...if eating right and being in shape were so important then why did God make all the bad for us food taste so darn good and exercising a pain in the butt?!  We all know that losing weight and keeping it off is much harder than gaining weight...well I shouldn't generalize maybe we all don't know that immutable fact but I sure do.  I know that down the line I'm going to pay for a bad diet and lack of exercise, but I feel pretty good now so there's little motivation to change...does that sound familiar?  No immediate gratification so change and dedication is hard.  I got to thinking...

Does our spiritual life reflect that belief too?  We don't see an immediate pay off for attending church, getting our kids up and to Sunday school, spending time alone with God, and working on our relationship with God.  Oh sure we might feel a tingling of the Spirit if we pray or do read Scripture or make it to a worship service, but any reward after that isn't too immediate.  Just like diet and exercise it takes discipline to keep at it and the more we keep at it the more we enjoy the positive aspects...especially down the line.  I'm not saying there are not immediate rewards for working on our relationship with God and with other people, but generally they aren't real obvious right away.  I also wonder if we think about the consequence of not nurturing our relationship with God when our time comes at the end of our life.  Yup...I'm talking about heaven and hell.  Do you think we can just float through life with just a little effort invested in what is supposed to be our most important relationship and then when we meet face to face God will just forgive us and say, "job well done my good and faithful servant?"

I don't know.  I don't worry about who's in and who's out because that is up to God.  And I truly don't believe in threatening people with hell if they don't follow God.  Besides, I'm not even real clear on my own theology surrounding heaven and hell.  I do know that just as much as we like to talk about grace and forgiveness we need to think a little bit about judgment and justice too.  I also know we need work at strengthening our relationship with God for as long as we're alive.  Besides the possible big benefit at the end, we can experience all kinds of blessings during our life that we'd missed out on if we ignored that relationship and didn't nourish it.  It isn't rocket science as to what it takes...attending worship to connect with other like minded people and to be challenged and comforted in our faith walk, praying, and reading scripture and generally just spending more time with God whenever we can.  I can't promise immediate gratification, but I can promise if we are disciplined and we can work on improving our relationship with God then we will experience more joy and fulfillment in this life then if we didn't have that relationship and the end will sort itself out at the end.  I guess as always the question is about discipline and where our priorities are.