Reading: Romans 6: 19-23
Reflective Thoughts
The wages of cupcakes
Summer is a couple of months away. Commercials from national fitness chains will soon be buzzing our ears with mantras of guilt. But years of experience has taught me that six weeks of aerobics classes and treadmill work won’t do anything for me if I haven’t confronted what causes my tight pants in the first place-overeating.
Paul put his analogy of being controlled by sin instead of righteousness in human terms (master/slave, and wages). As someone who has struggled with the sin of gluttony, I put it in terms of cupcakes, too many cupcakes. Overeating carries with it the “wages” of weight gain, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, depression-and perhaps least talked about among us, the consequences of not glorifying God in the moment. Even the way I choose to eat reflects how obedience to sin mars my physical body and my spirit.
1 Timothy 4:8 tells us that exercise is of a little value-but exercising godliness is of great value, in this lifetime and for eternity. So whether you eat that cupcake or join the gym or both, do it as someone under the control of God and not things that were never meant to control you.