The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4b
It came in the mail. It was an advertisement, an offer really, to join a program that would not only help me control my diabetes but to reverse it. If everything went according to plan, I could come off both of my diabetic meds and lose the “I’m diabetic” label. There were two more things. First, thanks to my insurance program, it would be provided to me at absolutely no cost to me. I’m sure it is costing my insurance plenty, but the price for me was paid in full…hmmm, can someone else besides me see a parallel there. Can someone say, grace, mercy, and Jesus?
The second thing was that the program would provide several things they called sensors…I call them gadgets. First, there was one of those totally cool glucose monitors that you wear and through your smartphone it tells on the fly what your sugar level is. Second, was a Garmin activity tracker that tells you all kind of stuff…more on that in a later story. Third, was a scale that not only tells you your weight but also how much body fat you have. This one, for obvious reasons, was not one of my favorites. Number four on the list was a meter that tells me if I have too many ketones. I’m not sure what they do or what they are, but I know you don’t want too many of them. Finally, there was a blood pressure “taker thinger” and it does just what it says. What also made the cool list is the fact that all these things talk to an application on my phone and all that information is compiled and it tells me and them if I am failing or succeeding.
So, there you go. No diabetes, no cost, lots of gadgets and only one problem. When I talked to the nice lady on the phone, she told me there wouldn’t be a lot of weird food like tofu or jellyfish eggs. What she didn’t tell me was that there wouldn’t be any really good food on the program either. Well, to be fair, that is not totally true. In fact, there are a lot of foods that I can eat and some a southern boy like me even like but there was no bread, no potatoes, no anything that had carbohydrates in them—and that is about every good thing besides meat and eggs. Hmmm…we have a problem.
Now all this is made worse by the fact that I have my sugar 100% under control. I turned the sweets thing almost totally off and cut way back on the starchy stuff and my sugar quickly plummeted. Thank you, sir…mission accomplished…but not quite. You see, if you remember my new friends want me to get off medicine. However to get off the medicine, I have to give up a whole category of stuff that I love and have loved all my life. The problem is I am quite content to take a couple of pills if they will allow me to eat some of my favorites. I am quite willing to let the two, my self-control and my medicine, work together. Honestly, it would probably be better for me to ditch the medicines but no bread, no potatoes, and worst of all, no, none, never pecan pie. What?
I think this is just a human nature thing and as you know our human nature can get us in trouble. Another name for our human nature is our sinful nature and our sinful nature wants us to sin—maybe not a whole lot but at least some of our favorites. We usually think the price is worth it. So, we control this and control that but often refuse to take the giant leap into total surrender. I know there is a difference between indulging in bread and lust or potatoes and anger but the principle is the same. We want what we want—even if the price is high and it is.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do about this new thing I’m enrolled in. I think I am going to try and find a place somewhere in the middle. I know that isn’t the best solution but regardless that is probably where I will land. But hear me clearly—that does not work with sin. With sin the best thing you can do is run fast and hard in the opposite direction. Remember this…sin will always win, and it will take you further and cost you more than you think. That is why our Father sent His Son, that is why the Son died and resurrected and that is why we need Him to rescue and save us.
Listen, all the cool sin gadgets in the world aren’t worth what they cost in the end. It will cost you a whole lot more than a pile of mashed potatoes. Just remember, what you can’t do on your own, you can do with Him. 1 John 4:4b says, “The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” In other words, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 