Growing Fat (and sassy)

"But for right now, copy down this song and teach the People of Israel to sing it by heart. They'll have it then as my witness against them. When I bring them into the land that I promised to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, and they eat and become full and get fat and then begin fooling around with other gods and worshiping them, and then things start falling apart, many terrible things happening, this song will be there with them as a witness to who they are and what went wrong. Their children won't forget this song; they'll be singing it. Don't think I don't know what they are already scheming to do, and they're not even in the land yet, this land I promised them."- Deuteronomy 31:19-21

This morning as I was reading my Bible a verse jumped out at me.  I've quoted above three verses, and I'll write a little about what I thought about all three, but the main verse was verse 20.  In this section of the Bible, the Israelites have been wandering around the desert for 40 years, and Moses has finally gotten them where they should be... despite all of their best efforts. Talk about a group of sassy people... they always had something to complain about!!! Sometimes God allows us to wander around until we can figure out who is boss.  Moses knows he can't go into the Promised Land, even though he saw God face-to-face, and knows he is getting close to death.  This is His last message to the Israelites. He is prepping them to be victorious, reminding them of the covenant they have with the Lord.  And in the middle of this verse, God is speaking.  He says, to paraphrase, I've brought you here into this land and given you EXCESS (more than what you need).  You've not even had to work for it.  And as you continue in this land, you'll become COMPLACENT, and grow FAT on what you have.  You'll start worshipping other things.  You'll forget who got you here, where your blessings came from, and when you get in trouble, this song (the words Moses is getting ready to speak) will remind you.

Last year, I completed a Bible study Kelly Minter called No Other Gods.  It basically defined a god as anything that takes your devotion away from Jesus, or prevents you from worshipping the one true God.  I also read about half of a book called Made to Crave, which focuses on replacing our food cravings with prayer, because we are really craving more of God when we think we are trying to fill ourselves with other things (not necessarily food).  I stopped reading halfway through because honestly, who wants to work hard to not crave food? 

This has been an area I've struggled with.  I've always been a picky eater.  I survived high school on McDonalds fries, chicken nuggets, nabs, and apples.  As a cheerleader, I practiced every night we didn't have a game and I was so busy that I was constantly on the run. Then, I graduated... and forget about the freshman fifteen.  It was  so much more than that.  Childbirth and bad eating habits and more on the go eating, and here I sit, more overweight than I want to admit.  I've tried diets, I've tried exercise, but because I don't like a lot of foods  and I don't have a lot of self-control, I've given up easily, caving into the cake (or cheesecake.  or Girl Scout cookies). 

This weekend I listened to a video devotion about how even when we feel like we don't have self-control, we do, because once we are saved, we have the power that was given to us by the Holy Spirit and part of that is in the Fruit of the Spirit, one of which is self-control.  And this morning, I read that line in the Bible "and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat" and it hit me in the gut.  Hmm... that could be me.  No, I don't worship food, but I do enjoy good food, especially sweets.  I also like to splurge on things that I don't really need.  I would consider myself thankful, but am I really thankful enough?  Can my self-control be part of my gratitude?  Doesn't it all work together?

So back to my above verses.  Here I sit in America.  The land of plenty.  I look at the world around me, many of them struggling for clean water and food, and I've got more than I need.  I am complacent.  Not ungrateful, but not too mindful, either... and I've grown fat.  I've not really had to work hard, not manual labor, anyway... and maybe that's part of the problem.  A little too much sitting at the computer and not enough getting up and moving.  Fat and sassy... a bad attitude that comes from feelings of worthlessness because I know I'm not living up to what I could or should be..

I think God wanted me to read that.  I think God wants me to move a little more and eat a little less.  I think God wants me to be intentional about my actions, putting Him at the center always.  I think He wants me to reach within and pull out that self-control that He's placed in there, self-control that hinges on HIm being in control.  Lord, please help me.

As to the rest of the verse, another thing that really struck me was how God was setting them up for failure.  He KNEW they would get in there and forget him... yet He gave them the victory anyway.  He knew they would become ungrateful (after all, isn't that why they wandered around for 40 years in the first place?) yet He led them in to the Promised Land.  He KNOWS.  Our fleshly tendecies.  What we want that maybe we don't need, and when we respond in a way that maybe we shouldn't.  Yet He LOVES us anyway.  How beautiful is that?