Round Tuit Christian

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.  And He saith unto them, Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.  And they straightway left their nets, and followed Him.  Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 18-20.

I remember getting a round hot pad called a “Round Tuit.”  It’s a gag gift you give to people who always answer that they will do things when they get “around to it.”  I realize that the disciples didn’t even know Jesus, but when He asked them to be fishers of men, the disciples dropped everything, no questions asked.  In contrast, here I am asking for a “Round Tuit” saying by my actions, “Well, I’m busy right now, God, but I might talk to others about the impact You’ve left on my life when I get around to it.” I don't want God to think I'm a Roud Tuit Christian!

Here are some related passages:
*And going on from thence, He saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them.  And they immediately left the ship and their father and followed Him.  Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 21-22.
*And another of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.  But Jesus said unto him, Follow Me; and let the dead bury their dead.  Matthew, Chapter 8, verses 21-22.
*And as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and He saith unto him, Follow Me, And he arose, and followed Him.  Matthew, Chapter 9, verse 9.
*So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these?  He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love Thee.  He saith unto him, Feed My lambs.  He saith unto him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?  He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord: Thou knowest that I love Thee.  He saith unto him, Feed My sheep.  He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest Thou Me?  Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time, Lovest thou Me?  And he said unto Him, Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee.  Jesus saith unto him, Feed My sheep.  John, Chapter 21, verses 15-17.

Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Scott-free Christian

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungered.  And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.  But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God.  Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 1-4.

When I was a child, I saw a big bowl of my mother’s home-made butterscotch pudding sitting on the kitchen cupboard.  I looked around and couldn’t see anyone, so I sneaked over to the bowl and ran my finger around the side of the bowl.  I ever so carefully got a small amount of pudding on my pudgy finger and licked it off.
I thought I was going to get off “Scott free” but I didn’t realize there were spies about and a bounty on pudding thieves.  After being told the pudding had to be thrown out because I had gotten germs all over it, my consequence was to be sent to my room.  Instead of being remorseful for what I did, my thoughts were, “If I had known the pudding would be thrown out, I would have eaten a whole bunch instead of a little bit.  That would have made my consequence much more worthwhile.”
I gave in to these temptations and lost my perspective of right and wrong and I hadn’t even been fasting for forty days like Jesus.  In fact, I had eaten a filling lunch but still was vulnerable to the lure dangled in front of me.  Now some might think that that being a Scott-free Christian isn’t a major sin but don’t realize that Satan works in very subtle ways to get us to rationalize our actions.  He is able to lead us astray without our ever realizing it.  Fortunately for me, Jesus didn’t give in to the temptations for food, status or power that we often fall prey to.

Here are some related passages:
*Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee; and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone.  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.  Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 5-7.
*Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them: And saith unto Him, all these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.  Matthew, Chapter 4, verses 8-10.


Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Mindless Christian

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Last night, I was watching TV. I made some microwave popcorn for other family members. In the last couple of months, I have downed almost a whole bag of our low calorie popcorn when I've been stressed. This time, I looked and found a third of a bag of popcorn and decided to try that, because it wouldn't allow me to eat too much.

I was watching the show and was enjoying it with family. During the time, I found myself mindlessly eating the popcorn. I asked myself if I was stressed and was doing it to hide things I was worried about. I've done this all too many times in my life, but I wasn't this time. I was trying to be prayerful about this while I crammed a couple more handfuls of popcorn in my mouth. I got the feeling it was just mindless eating. I ate a few more handfuls and realized that if God's showing me this, there's a reason. He wants the best for me, so I quickly asked for His help. I had to struggle with pulling the bag away from my automatic arm that was like those on slot machines, but mine kept coming up with another handful of popcorn. It wasn't easy handing the bag to my husband, because I hadn't finished all the way to the bottom, which was difficult for me. This lets me know that Satan's tempting me with some of my old behaviors. He knows where I'm vulnerable!

God wants me mindful in all I do. My actions in my relationships, my eating, and my faith need to be mindful. I can't just be a Mindless Christian, going through the motions by going to church, but not applying it to my life. I can't go through life only focused on what I want and not what Christ wants. I can't have meaningful relationships with others if I'm just mindlessly going through the motions. I need to be more mindful in all aspects of my life and Christ will get me to that point if I only ask Him. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24


Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.

Honest Christian

Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer. Ezekiel 45: 10-11

 So what do weights and balances that I don't even understand have to do with my eating? That's a good question. The thing is, when I read this passage this morning, the thought went through my mind that God has said several times in the Bible that He wants people to use just weights and balances in the Bible. Honesty is important to God. He doesn't want people putting their thumb on the scale to deceive people, so that they pay more for something than they receive.

Well, the thought was that if God went to such great lengths to make sure we are honest in our business dealings, wouldn't He want me to be honest with my eating, as well? So, here goes! I'm struggling right now with my eating. There have been quite a few times when I've been in situations where the majority of my meals revolved around lots of carbs, which I call "breads." An example would be when I had a Nacho Salad with a bazillion nacho chips for dinner at a restaurant when we were celebrating a birthday.  I felt compelled to eat all of them! Some of these times, I had already used all my "bread" allotment by noon, but still was faced with high carb meal options at dinner time.

At first, it really bothered me to be going beyond my "bread" limit. Since it's happened several times within the last month, I've gotten to the point that I've been complacent about it. I haven't even spent much time trying to find other healthier options when we've been out. To top it all off, my husband wants lasagna for dinner tonight. Lasagna in of itself is fine, but I'm often tempted to eat more of this high carb meal, because a slice the size that I'm allowed doesn't seem like enough to get me through the evening. I can already tell that my clothes are starting to get kinda tight and I don't want to be slip-sliding back into poor eating habits. I want to be an Honest Christian, not just with my food, but with all aspects of my life.

When I'm letting food be a vice that controls my life, I'm not letting God be in control of my life. Christ gave His life for our salvation, not for us to delude ourselves into letting vices interfere in our relationship with Him. I need to pray for God's healing touch in my life and turn my food, my honesty, and my control over into His very capable hands. Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath. The ephah and the bath shall be of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of an homer, and ephah the tenth part of an homer: the measure thereof shall be after the homer. Ezekiel 45: 10-11


Since this is an example of the positive influence God has made on my walk with Christ, this may not reflect the whole meaning of the Bible verses.
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)