wanting vs doing

How many of you made a resolution to lose weight this year? How many of you started a diet on Monday and by Wednesday gave up?

I absolutely love the show Biggest Loser. It's so inspiring to see these people who have hit rock bottom, face the very obstacles that they never thought they could conquer. But do you know what I do every season its on? I watch from my couch, and sometimes there is ice cream involved.  And I know I am not the only overweight person who does this.

Why do we wait until we are out of options until we make a change? Why do we just dream of a better life instead of doing something about it? We started the series, Epic Change, at church this weekend. Pastor spoke out of Judges 6:1-6. It says that Israel continually did evil and because of that, God gave them over to the enemy army. Eventually Israel was reduced to the point of starvation. It was then that they sought God for help.

They ended up in a place of depression and emptiness. Too often we allow that in our own lives. If we really dwell on things, we can see the areas in our lives that need to be changed. That's not the hard part though. The hard part is putting the work into it. On the Biggest Loser, the difficult part for them is not facing the scale. Nope. It's the months of blood, sweat, and tears that follow. You have to put in the work to actually change. That's the difference between wanting to change and actually changing.

Oh how hard this is for me to grasp! I want to be thin, but oh how fun cooking is...and it seems to be so much more fun with butter. So I ask myself which do I want more? To be thin or to eat cheesecake? I only use this as an illustration though. I'm not really talking about dieting (just to myself).

"Therefore since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us." --Hebrews 12:1 NLT

So what sin is holding you back? What's distracting you? What is it in your life that you need to change? Just like me with my diet, everyone has their cheesecake moments. And everyone has a decision to make. So are you going to wait until you hit rock bottom and are out of options until you realize you need change? Or are you going to do something about it today?