2003-02-26 - Moderation

I have a funny story to tell all of you, funny, but at my expense. I went to Chili's with some friends, and my friend Doug and I both ordered root beer to drink. We decided to see how many refills we could get, so we gulped down our drinks, and both of us got a refill. As the night went on, we finished glass after glass of about 12 oz. sodas. After we both had 4 glasses down, the meals arrived, and we had to force a few hamburgers down the shoot. Then after the burgers, we decided to finish off the meal with two sodas for me, and three for Doug. I know Doug sounds like he could handle more than I could, but he didn't eat his burger, I did. So there I was, 6 glasses of root beer, a hamburger and fries meal in my stomach. Needless to say, my stomach hurt so bad.

What was the problem with this story? Moderation. I didn't think once during the dinner, that I should stop and drink more slowly, or stop at four glasses. I was caught up in the heat of competition. I couldn't stop; if I did, I would be beaten. It was stupid, but I am a stupid teenager who has to do stupid things, right? Not really, it doesn't matter how old we are, we should have moderation in our lives. We should not do wild and crazy things that will get us in trouble, or harm us.

In Phil. 4:5, it says, "Let your gentleness and moderation be evident to all." (KJV) I had to mention that was from the King James Version, because every other version I looked at simply said gentleness. Anyways, we need to be moderate in our lives. This means what we eat. "Eat to live, don't live to eat." (That was my problem.) We need to be moderate in what we wear. This is a problem more for girls than it is for guys, because girls in our society are praised for their bodies. We have to dress and act in a way that agrees with what Jesus taught. I have done a lot of studying of the Bible, and I never have I found a single verse that tells us to dress seductively or provocatively, not even sloppily.

We have to learn to live in moderation, so that we don't waste and so that we don't live flippantly. We are so fortunate to live in a free society, and many of us get our "Biggie" fries, or "Super-Sized" drinks. We don't really need that much food, but we order because we can. We have to be able to guess what we will need, so that we don't have to throw away food that could have been given to someone who actually needs it. One of my friends' dad mentioned to me once about what it was like to work at McDonald's. He said that they throw away as much food as they sell, but that's the prize of having prepared food on hand at all times. I guess that makes sense, but why should we fatten our already-fat bodies, while others continue to starve?

Hmmmmm...? That's a doozy, isn't? Think about it - do you live in moderation?

The Word of God, For the Children of God, "Thanks be to God"

God Bless,

I love you all,

Derek

derek@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org