Mike Weaver and Hezekiah

Some of you may be familiar with the group Big Daddy Weave; they have done some music that is well worth listening to. If you’ve ever seen pictures of their lead singer, Mike Weaver, you can understand how the group got its name. Mike Weaver has launched a campaign that he calls “90IN09” (ninety in oh-nine): he is trying to lose 90 pounds before the end of this year. Personally, I’m waiting for next year; my weight-loss campaign will be called “01IN10.” Mike Weaver recently posted a video where he shows, and talks about, a big temptation he faced with regards to his diet.

It occurred to me while watching this video that we, as human beings, have a tendency to treat those kind of temptations differently than we do other types. In general, we know that if we eat something that we shouldn’t, then we are either going to have to work it off, or gain weight. On the other hand, say, for example, imbibing alcohol. We know that we will have to pay in the morning for overindulgence tonight, but we also figure that by tomorrow night, everything will be back to normal. We generally don’t stop to think about possible long-term effects, such as cirrhosis, or DUI charges, or possible even criminal charges stemming from actions taken while intoxicated, or even alcoholism. Those things only happen to other people.

I have known people to make tragic mistakes thinking that, if what they wanted to do was a sin, then they could ask God for forgiveness later, and He would forgive, and He would remove all of the consequences for their actions. Some people think that because they have done some things in the past that they know they shouldn’t have done, and ended up not facing any consequences (yet), that God just works that way. These people think that once you have made your profession of faith, then you just live however you want to live and it’s all covered by the blood. Doesn’t the Bible talk about the sow that was washed returning to the mire? Of course it does, but if you read the rest of that chapter, you may find that it isn’t a good thing. Besides, the Bible also talks about fighting the good fight of faith. God didn’t call us to be plastic bag Christians; plastic bags have no real control over where they wind up, pretty much just wherever the wind blows them, that’s where they are. The Bible tells us not to be blown about by every wind of doctrine. The thing is that we have an immortal soul, but we also have a fleshly body; the spirit longs for Godly things, but the flesh, which cannot go to Heaven anyway, wants to experience all the pleasure that it can in this life. If we walk in the Spirit, though, then we will not do those things that the flesh wants to do, whether it involves Fanny May, or Jack Daniels, or dead presidents.

In the Old Testament, King Hezekiah had some form of terminal illness, but then God healed him. The Prince of Babylon sent envoys to congratulate Hezekiah on his recovery. Hezekiah was so happy to be alive, and so grateful for their (apparent) support, that he gave them a tour, and showed them all of the royal treasures. After they left, God sent the prophet Isaiah to ask Hezekiah why he did such a thing. Hezekiah really didn’t see the problem, but the prophet explained to him that the Babylonians now knew what Israel had, and would eventually attack Israel to take the treasures that they had seen. As it happened, God didn’t allow that to happen until after Hezekiah’s death, but it still happened. The point is, our actions have consequences. Sometimes we don’t see those consequences, but that doesn’t make those consequences any less real. Sometimes we don’t even have to face those consequences during our time on earth, but there is a much longer life to come…