Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left . . . Joshua 23:6
I know that I write about food a lot, which is probably repetitive to anyone reading, but it’s my struggle right now, so, for honesty’s sake, I must blog about it. Here goes . . .
It’s the Christmas season, which means that both at work and at home, there’s an extraordinary quantity of sugary snacks piled everywhere. It’s also the respiratory illness season, which means that we’re hitting our peak numbers in Urgent Care, where I spend part of my week. Every day, I intend to eat healthy, but then I run from room to room for 12 hours and somewhere along the line, I give in and just start eating chocolate. You’d think that no lunch break would mean eating less, but I can eat thousands of calories a day simply by grabbing a handful of junk food every time I walk by the nurse’s station. So, I’ve been packing on weight that I don’t want and after stepping on the scale this morning, I’m irritated with myself. Sigh. How did I get here?
I didn’t intend for this to happen. I’m only a couple of months out from my CrossFit competition season and I need to be getting into the best shape of the year. I’ve been working out, going to the gym, and lifting weights, but I’ve also been letting the little things slide, eating a handful of chocolate here and there. Each indulgence seems small, but when they add up, those little indulgences completely derail my goals.
I don’t want to over-spiritualize dietary choices, but the little things matter. This is the message of today’s passage. In the story, Israel had conquered the promised land and, as they rested in their inheritance, Joshua admonished his people to remain on the straight and narrow. If they desired to continue to enjoy the life God intended for them, they needed to guard themselves against any distraction.
This is true in faith and recovery as well. The little things matter. If I find myself letting my self-control go in one area of my life, it spills over into another. I’m not saying that eating a Christmas cookie today means I’m going to start using drugs tomorrow, but if I just stop living purposefully, I return to following my appetite, which for me is profoundly self-destructive. If I want my life to be in a certain place tomorrow, I must purposefully move in that direction today, intentionally doing whatever it takes to avoid distractions. Today then, I must do whatever it takes to avoid the Christmas chocolate.