Quality vs. Quantity

 

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them. Psalm 139:14-16

 

 

 

 

 

God’s sovereignty and our responsibility are sometimes difficult concepts to reconcile with each other. I have often heard new Christians wonder if the doctrine of election is true why bother with evangelism, won’t God save them anyway? If God knows my needs why do I have to pray? And if God has already determined the number of my days why do I need to worry about diet and exercise?

This last one came up a while ago when I was working with a person who was totally unconcerned about his diet. When I asked him about it he quoted a part of Psalm 139:16. He said, “in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me.”

The way he interprets these verses is that regardless of what he does in this life he is going to die on the day God has appointed for him to die. He can eat and live as he wishes regarding his health because, in God’s sovereignty, his day is his day, nothing he does can change that. I completely agree that his day is his day. God does clearly tell us that He has numbered our days.

BUT, I do not agree that it doesn’t matter what we do. If our human bodies are so ill that we are unable to effectively minister to others or serve the Lord, then we have failed to fulfill our responsibility to do all that the Lord has for us.

One of the most difficult things to imitate as we are being conformed to the image of Christ is His obedience to God the Father. The Bible says that Jesus said only those things that God gave Him to say and did only those things that God gave Him to do (John 5:19, 8:28). Romans 8:29 says that we are to be conformed to this image.

It is so easy to take what we want in this world. We have it all at our fingertips. Every whim and every taste can be satisfied because of the abundance we live in. Is that the abundance God promises us and wants us to have – or is HE the abundance that we can have if we eat of His bread rather than the junk food of the world?

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. God has determined the number of our days. How we live them is an area we have some responsibility for. I am in a period of time where God is bringing some changes. I know that all the things He does are for my good and His glory but from the human perspective the transitions can be difficult. In difficult times I want comfort food and lots of it.

This is a problem because I really enjoy it as I’m eating it but live to regret it as I watch the clothes get smaller and the scale go up. I am less effective for the Lord because my mind is not on Him – it’s on food! He wants to be my help in trials – not for me to turn to other “gods.” If food becomes my god, the number of days I live may not change but the quality of those days may be drastically changed when I let anything other than the one true God be my comfort and my strength.

Advice to self – do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6)

That’s a great memory verse for this week, don’t you think?