There Is a Better Way

Cindy and I went to a new restaurant today for lunch. It was the kind of place where the menu is on the wall and you order at the counter, then take a seat and wait for someone to bring you your food. That's not unusual. Sounds like your typical fast food restaurant. What set this place apart from other hamburger joints we've been to, however, was the detail of each menu item listed on the wall. Not only was the particular burger listed, but also its calorie content, organic origin, and its designation as "free-range" meat. Now we didn't go there because of any of those things...we just wanted a good burger! Every condiment and additional topping that could be added was also listed on the wall and beside each listing, the calorie content for each one as well. After a while, it became too difficult to keep track of the calories; that was just too taxing when the smell of grilled onions, french fries cooking, and the occasional chocolate milk shake that was being delivered to someone near my table captured my attention. It was all just too distracting, and I was simply too hungry to get caught up in the particulars that this restaurant thought I was either interested in or should know.

When our food was delivered, it looked and tasted wonderful. As I took the last bite, however, my mind wandered once more to the board and all the information listed there...the healthy information the management had displayed for my good and perhaps to ease their consciences. It was then I began to ponder..."Is it good to consider the degree of sin in the midst of the moment, or just forge ahead and consider the consequences later?" For this day, I must admit, my hunger got the best of me. The calories added up to more than they should.

I suppose our momentary weaknesses produce the kind of sin that brings recognition, like that calorie-laden burger just before the last bite is finished. The apostle Paul must have struggled with this sort of thing to some degree. He wrote to the Christians In Rome that he found himself doing the things he didn't want to do while often not doing the things he knew were right to do. That is the struggle with sin that we all face. Paul came to the conclusion that there was nothing good enough within him to overcome that sin. "What a wretched man I am," he wrote in the seventh chapter of Romans. "Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord." His hope was not in his own ability to overcome, but in the power of Christ to help him overcome. When we stop to count the calories...the sin, we recognize that there is a better way. Paul was right...Thanks be to God--though Jesus Christ our Lord!

Well, it's nearing dinner time. I'm grateful that Cindy hasn't listed the calorie content of the meals she prepares on the wall...yet.

Jim Abernathy