Philippians 3:13-14
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Waking up everyday looking into the same mirror, I have seen the same image looking back at me for 37 years. My whole life (since fifth grade) I have been chubby, fat and then on to fatter. Since my high school days I had gotten up to 326lbs. Last year, on March 15th, I started working on fixing this. First of all I couldn't have done it without the help of my Savior. I lost down to 238lbs. My head was so big that I couldn't see a full view of my ears when looking straight in a mirror. I had to take the shoe shinning boys word for it... What was so funny was that everyone said things like... You carry it well and you're just big boned. They all meant well. I can't describe to you the burden lifted from me when I lost this weight. Seeing my ears and shoes again was a plus. But when the doctor took me off of diabetic and blood pressure medicine, well praise God!
Every now and then something happens. I look into that mirror and still see the same person I always had been my whole life. From my eyes, I'll always be the "big guy". I'll still feel like the largest man in the crowd. It seems like I can't shake it off sometimes. Then someone takes a picture of me and shows it to me or puts a post it on social media, and I see something. I see someone that is unrecognizable at times. I don't even believe it.
You know what? We do that to ourselves. It's so hard to let go of who we used to be. We allow the devil, and ourselves, to bring us into this bondage style of living. We allow others to bring things up about who we used to be and allow it to bring us down. Shake off those chains! Today, let's do as God's word tells us.
- Forget the things which are behind us
- Reach forward to the things ahead of us
- Press toward the prize in Jesus
I am not what I need to be, but thank God I'm not who I used to be!
