Welcome to the Overcoming the Acceptable Christian Sin of Gluttony podcast, a companion podcast to the Acceptable Christian Sin of Gluttony message series. This is episode #51. My name is Daniel Whyte III president of Gospel Light Society International. The purpose of this podcast is to share with you, from a biblical perspective, the means by which we can combat and overcome the sin of gluttony and its outcome of obesity.
Our passage from the Word of God today is Proverbs 23:1-3 which reads: “When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.”
Now, let’s look at gluttony and its effects in the news: According to CNN, Many Americans are drinking and eating their feelings through this nail-biting election week. And it’s not just munching at home. Fast food chains have been opportunistic about election-related stress eating, offering free comfort food to help people cope. While it’s true that consuming indulgence-worthy calories can help to soothe or even numb your anxiety, excess amounts of cookies, ice cream or the best tasting wine will not make you feel better in the long run. That’s true no matter who you are rooting for. Signe Darpinian, a certified eating disorders specialist and the coauthor of “No Weigh! A Teen’s Guide to Positive Body Image, Food, and Emotional Wisdom,” says, “There is a lot of collective anxiety at this time, which can lend itself to more emotional eating, which makes perfect sense. But feeding a body that’s not asking to be fed on a regular basis can lead to preoccupation and more emotional headspace than what is ideal.” Consuming excess calories in one sitting can also lead to low energy, bloating, stomach discomfort and weight gain over time. The same can be said for drinking. Including small amounts of alcohol may be healthful, but even at low levels, alcohol may interfere with sleep, cloud judgment, contribute to weight gain and negatively interact with some medications.
In this podcast, we are going through the book, The RAVE Diet and Lifestyle: The Natural Foods Diet With Meals that Heal, by Mike Anderson. This section is titled: Exercise, Part 3:
When you’re sedentary, you lose muscle mass. When active, you gain it and that is the key to burning more calories. Don’t use the excuse that your metabolism slows down with age. Nonsense. Metabolism is a function of lean body mass, the more you have the higher your metabolism. Get moving, build up your lean body mass and your metabolism will move with you.
There’s a secret known to those who exercise regularly: Exercise creates energy. Don’t wait for energy to come to you when you’re tired. When you feel that afternoon slump, shake it off and get your body moving. Taking a 15-minute walk will keep you more awake and alert the rest of the day than an afternoon nap – or that cup of coffee.
Humans are naturally lazy because we’re programmed to conserve energy. In the past, we were forced to exercise to find food and there was a balance between the calories expended to locate or farm food and the calories we consumed. Today, we have created an incredibly artificial living environment that’s also designed to conserve energy. The result is that many Americans are so inactive they’re practically living their lives in bed rest! Humans in industrialized countries are very much like caged birds, but in our case we’re caged in our chairs and couches. Despite our technical advances, we’re still trapped in Stone Age bodies and those bodies need to be exercised – just as faithfully as they are fed every day.
The best incentive to exercise is that it simply makes you feel wonderful and alive! But if you need an immediate reason to exercise, here’s one you can’t resist – you’ll enjoy a much better sex life!
We will continue looking at this topic in our next podcast.
— PRAYER —
Now, in this series, as we focus on overcoming the sin of gluttony, and managing our bodies as God intended, we must not lose sight of the most important part of our existence — our spiritual life. Even those of you who are fit, who eat right, and who exercise regularly must still address the condition of your soul. You may keep your body in perfect condition till the day you die, but you will still die — we all will, and the only thing that will matter is the condition of your soul. Is your soul in shape? Is your soul in right standing with God?
The only way to make sure of that is to trust Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin and the consequences of sin. He alone can save your soul, put you in right standing with God, and ensure that you do not perish in Hell. Now, if you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9 & 13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved� For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Until next time, may God bless you and keep you is my prayer.
BCNN1 WP 