“I’m trying to lose weight!” the young man announced to his grandmother one day, “I’m counting the calories and watching what I eat, and I’m starting to lose a bit. But, boy, do I get hungry!”
“Well, I know all about that” his grandmother said, “I used to do that for years until I thought I was too old to worry about my shape! But you know there’s another way you can do it where you can eat all you want and never feel hungry!”
“Yeah,” he said disbelievingly, “How’s that?”
“Well”, she said, “I’ve been eating this way for over a year now, and I know it works! But you know, it has to first of all start in your mind. Until you make up your mind you are going to eat this way and that you are going to stick to it, it won’t work. It’s an all or nothing thing….you can’t make a start and fall back into your old ways of eating because you can’t mix the two ways together. It just won’t work.”
“H’mmm”, he said, “Tell me about it, Gran”.
“Well”, she said, “It’s quite simple really. No grains, no dairy and no sugar. If you stick to that rule, you will never get hungry again, and you will be able to eat as much as you want. You won’t be eating anything with preservatives, or any pre-packaged foods. What you will be eating is the most un-tampered-with food you can find…fish, eggs, meat, vegetables (except for potatoes which are too starchy) fruit and nuts. You can fry in coconut oil and use it in your recipes as much as you want”.
“But what about bread?” he wailed.
“No bread at all….it’s all loaded with preservatives and sugar. Even the flour we buy has had the wheat genetically modified and is bad for you.There are recipes with alternative flour which will be different, but it will fill the gap. Use almond flour and coconut flour. You will find that you feel better and fitter, no more headaches, or bloated feeling and best of all you don’t need to feel guilty about what you are eating!”
“It seems awfully hard”, he muttered as he turned away.
“Well”, she said, “Give it a try for twenty-eight days. Tell yourself you can always give it up at the end of that. But you might just find by then that you don’t WANT to give it up. I know, because I’ve done it!”
You know, this story is a parable in a way. These principles are just the same in the Christian life. It’s an all or nothing thing….so many people have just tried it for a short time and then gone back to their old ways. This is what causes other people to point the finger and say there are too many hypocrites in the church for them.
You will find that although it starts in the mind, it has to continue to the mouth (for the diet) or the heart for the spiritual. Just as the new way of eating satisfies all the hunger and cravings, so the Bible will satisfy your soul and you will never feel spiritually hungry again. Once you really mean what you say to the Lord, you will find that the old things will just fall off, and will be replaced by better feelings, attitudes and places to go. You won’t WANT the old things any more. But be warned, you can’t mix the two ways…it just won’t work!
You might be like this young man and think it is too hard to even begin, but the benefits far outweigh any hardship. You won’t know until you try it and mean it with all your heart!!!