Day 4
My reading today continues with Noah and the flood. While most know that it rained forty days and forty nights, I learned that they were actually in the ark a little over a year. By they I mean Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives. Plus a lot of animals. Every other living thing died. After the first forty days of rain, the earth was completely overtaken with water, and the ark floated for five months. The Word says that God remembered Noah, and the water began to recede. Only after a year were they able to depart from the ark. Genesis 8:15-19. God then made a covenant with Noah not to ever destroy all living creatures again. As a sign of that covenant, God placed a rainbow in the sky, so that whenever anyone sees it, they will be reminded of God's promise.
In the New Testament, Jesus goes through his own 40 day fast. What is interesting is that after Jesus was baptized (by John the Baptist) his first decision was to go into the desert to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1. Not only did He go head to head with satan, but He did it after fasting 40 days when he was hungry. This reminds me that Jesus was able to withstand the greatest temptation at a very weak time, yet he did not sin. It is written later on that "we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin." Hebrews 4:15. It is the ultimate "been there, done that." He was able to resist the devil, and when He did, the angels attended to Him.
Day 4 also includes the beginning of Proverbs. My favorite verse in Proverbs appears in the first chapter "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." I'll cover what is meant by fear another time, but let me use this analogy. If we are driving down the highway at 80 miles per hour and see a police office up ahead, our natural reaction is to slow down to the speed limit and hope that he didn't catch us or if he did, that he won't pull out and pull us over. That same mindfulness of getting caught doing wrong and suffering the consequence keeps most of us in line while driving. Imagine if every time we got behind the wheel of a car, a police officer pulled out behind us and followed us every where we went. Wouldn't we all be perfect drivers? Yet, I don't always fear God in the same way. He actually sees everything - good and bad. I acknowledge that at times I assume He will just let it go. This way of thinking is always wrong. He offers forgiveness, but I need to strive not to purposely do things and take advantage of His grace and mercy. So, I look to Proverbs most often for guidance.
Proberbs is one of my favorite books of the Bible for two reasons. First, it is filled with tons of wisdom and guidance for daily living. Second, there are 31 chapters - one for each day of the month - so it is an easy book to read each month. Since today is the 17th, I also read chapter 17. The first verse of chapter 17 is "Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting in strife." I mean who doesn't want that?
All in all these passages remind me to have patience. I know it will take at least a year to get all of my weight off, but unlike Noah and his family, I have the ability to roam about on dry land. And, like Jesus, I will be tempted. For me, its most likely around blowing off exercising and straying from a healthy eating plan. When I am tempted, I must remember that He was tempted too when he was hungry, but he was able to resist, and I can pray for strength to resist too. Finally, I need to be mindful that God is always there and I need and want to learn from Him.
As for eating and exercising, I didn't get out for a run or walk today. Kat injured herself at soccer on Tuesday and was still complaining of pain so we went to the doctors to determine if it was broken. Luckily it wasn't, but it was bruised pretty badly. They wrapped it in an ace bandage and sent us on her way. It was just what she needed. I procrastinated with my exercise video until 4:30, but finally went to do Insanity Cardio Power and Resistance. That video was tough - very tough. There are some moves that are challenging for me to do such as tricep raises. Basically, we sit on the floor with our knees bent, hands behind us fingers pointed towards our feet. Then lift our butt off the ground and lower down using our triceps. While my wrist is better for push ups, it is still not strong enough for these tricep rises. So, I did a different tricep exercise in its place. I was glad I completed it. I was able to resist temptation and fall asleep notwithstanding the plethora of food commercials at night.
"Jesus said to him, "Away from me satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only." Matthew 4:10
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