medical – Pilgrim with a Pen

“You’re gettin’ too big for your britches!”

For a pretty scrawny kid, I heard this phrase a lot growing up…🙄

Of course, it had nothing to do with me actually outgrowing my pants — it usually meant I needed an attitude check.

As an adult, however, this phrase has taken on a much more literal meaning…

You’ve heard of the freshman 15, right?

Well, over the past two years, I’ve put on the “Covid 19” — if you know what I mean…😜

And as a result, I’ve literally gotten too big for my britches…😂😂🤣😔

When I first noticed that my pants weren’t fitting the way they used to, I thought…no big deal, I’ll just cut back on the calories…take a few more walks…and I’ll be down to my previous weight in no-time.

Ha.

Turns out, it’s a lot easier to pack on the pounds than it is to take them off.

So, despite my good intentions, it became clear that I needed to go with Plan B…

…Buy some bigger pants.

🤣🤣🤣

Ahhh…much better.

In the moment, it seemed my problem was solved…but there was just one glitch.

You see, I changed my pants without changing my habits.

I became so comfortable in my new, roomier pants that it allowed me the wiggle room to continue being complacent in my old eating habits.

Since my old snug pants were no longer there to make me feel like a busted can of biscuits every time I tried them on, there was no longer any catalyst for change.

So…….as I continued along over the course of a few more months, I reached a point where even my new pants were getting a little snug. 😱😱😱

And eventually (I’m ashamed to say), I decided it was time to activate Plan C…

…Stretchy Pants.

😂😂😂

I mean, it was during the height of the pandemic, so we really weren’t going anywhere anyway…(besides Wal-mart pickup, that is)….so it seemed like the perfect solution. 😂

But in the long run, it was more of a band-aid to my problem than a cure.

And in my heart of hearts, I realized that if didn’t break this pattern, it could become an endless cycle…if I outgrew every successive pair of pants I purchased, one day I’d have my own reality TV show and have to be removed from my house by a crane. 😳😳😳

***************************************

But my struggle is nothing new…experts have been spouting statistics for years about the American diet/lifestyle and how it is contributing to conditions like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

We get ourselves in these predicaments in at least one of two ways:

1. By eating for taste, not for hunger.

2. And a lack of exercise.

I think we all know that by now.

But what experts have yet to report on is that Christians in America are having similar issues with their spiritual diets as well:

In a spiritual context, choosing to “eat for taste, not for hunger” means we only consume Biblical teachings that are palatable to us (e.g. God’s love, forgiveness, and grace)…without feeding on the Word of God as a whole.

Many believers in America today want to skip over the “meat and potatoes” of the Bible and go straight to the “dessert” — and many churches are responding by holding back parts of the Truth for fear of offending picky palates.

But this isn’t Golden Corral.

You don’t get to just pick and choose what you put on your plate — and you definitely don’t get to skip straight to the Chocolate Wonderfall. (🤭)

By failing to acknowledge both God’s love as well as His severity (Romans 11:22), we’re not just loosening a belt…we’re loosening doctrine itself…for the purpose of our comfort.

And just like my own experience, it’s a slippery slope.

Over time, as we become more and more set in our unhealthy habits, the belt only tends to become looser and looser…the pants bigger and bigger…until, like me, one day you find yourself just lounging around all day in a pair of “spiritual sweatpants” (you know, the ones with the mystery stain and the elastic waistband that’s almost shot) feeling more than comfortable in your sins 😱…

I suppose that’s fine if you’ve got no where to go and no one to see…🫣

But let me remind you of this… just as one day the pandemic waned and I actually had to put on real pants to go out in public again…one day, we will have an appointment with God as well…and the last thing we want to do is show up looking less than presentable.

************************************

God calls us to be imitators of Him, and the only way to do that is through spiritual diet and exercise.

Maybe you aren’t glossing over what the Bible says. Maybe you are feeding on every thing God’s all-you-can-eat buffet has to offer…that’s good and I commend you.

But that’s also a lot of calories to consume in one sitting.

So, we can’t just settle for a sedentary lifestyle…we also need to walk…with God.

James 1:22 puts it like this…”Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.”

Or to use a more familiar phrase…Just Do It.

It may be Nike’s slogan, but it applies to our walk with Jesus Christ as well.

What good are all those calories if we don’t put them to good use? Calories were meant to sustain our energy as we expend it!

In I Corinthians 9:27 (NLT), the apostle Paul says, “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.”

Indulgence and complacency feel good in the moment, but the effects of their habitual practice are far-reaching…you know what they say, a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips. 😉

When it comes to what God’s Word says on a subject, don’t go “shopping around” for a better fit…instead make the effort to allow God to mold you to fit what His Word says…

…because after all, when we find ourselves getting too big for our britches, it not because He’s changed — it’s because we have.

Until next time…

-PWAP

I was watching Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood with my one-year-old nephew the other day. It was the episode where Daniel has to stay home sick from school.

I didn’t think much about it at the time, but as my 6-year-old has been home sick the past few days, a song from that show randomly popped into my head again — “Rest is Best.”

The message of the song in a nutshell is this: When you’re sick, you need to rest in order to get better.

Pretty simple concept, right?

It’s an instinct really — when our bodies get sick (or even just tired), what do we feel like doing??

Absolutely nothing!!!

Our bodies instinctively tell us to rest.

But there’s more to “resting” than just sleeping 18 hours a day and then lying on the couch watching I Love Lucy reruns for the other 6.

Rest alone will not make us “all-better” – we also need to follow doctor’s orders, eating, drinking, and taking the proper medications to be made whole again.

*******************************

Just like our bodies, our souls need rest too.

And while it may sound counterintuitive to get up early for church on a Sunday morning in order to find rest — Jesus says we can only find true rest in Him:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:28–29).

You see, Jesus not only knows we’re tired, he knows the reason we’re tired as well — we’re sick.

Sick and tired. Great combination, right?

We’re sick with a terminal disease called sin — and we’re tired because we spend our daily lives battling the side effects of it — fear, hate, depression, loneliness, insecurity, heartaches and pains…the list could go on and on.

Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” – Mark 2:17

Jesus is often considered The Great Physician.

And the church? A hospital for the sinners he heals.

If you haven’t yet been healed of your sin, come to Jesus and follow His prescription:

Believe that He is the Son of God.

Confess your faith publicly.

Be baptized for the remission of your sins.

If you’ve already been healed by the Great Physician through belief and baptism, well…let me just say: don’t forget to keep your “follow-up appointments.” 😉

As an oncology nurse, I educate patients about this all the time: a patient may be considered to be in remission after completing their initial cancer treatments, but they should still continue regular follow ups with their physician as directed.

Why?

Well, these follow-ups are often referred to as surveillance visits — where the doctor will monitor and assess for any signs of a recurrence at regularly scheduled intervals.

In much the same fashion, God also calls the church together in weekly intervals — knowing that we need these regularly scheduled “check-ups” to keep us accountable and to make sure the dreadful disease of sin is not overtaking our lives once more.

But more than some sort of a weekly support group for sinners, our weekly worship to God alongside fellow Christians is commanded and designed for the glory of God.

After all, He deserves our thanks and praise more than any earthly physician does.

*******************************

To those who overlook the importance of meeting together as a whole body of believers on the first day of the week, let me just say…

When we don’t heed the call to worship God and remember Jesus’s death on the first day of every week, we become like patients who don’t keep their follow up appointments.

Often referred to as being “lost to follow up,” these patients are almost invariably prone to poorer outcomes than the ones who strictly followed the directions of their doctor.

Forsaking the assembly of the church is nothing short of signing yourself out of God’s “hospital for sinners” ASA (against spiritual advice) — putting yourself at high risk of a similarly poor outcome, spiritually speaking. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

******************************

And lastly, there’s always those who rely on WebMD to diagnose and treat their medical problems.

The world says to find rest in self-care, vacations, retail therapy, spa days, fishing with your buddies on the lake, Netflix binges, and the list could go on and on…

But those are just like putting cheap bandaids on a gaping wound.

Jesus says we can find true rest in Him. Rest that’s more than just a bandaid. Rest that will heal our souls.

So who are you going to listen to?

The Great Physician…or some quack on the internet?

I’d go with Jesus, He’s never lost a patient yet. 😉

Oh…and for what it’s worth…His bedside manner is impeccable. 🥰

Until next time…

-PWAP

Tag: medical

Too Big for Your Britches

Rest is Best