New Life

I love the Biggest Loser! The season finale was last night and although the person I was rooting for didn’t win, I did love watching the changes. I found myself sobbing several times. Both for the people with great success and for the people who wasted an opportunity. Both circumstances are moving for me, but for completely different ways.

My favorite moment of the show was when the oldest man on the show, Gerald, came out to show his “new” body. The picture of him looking overweight and sad popped up on the screen. There standing next to the picture was his new and improved self. The crowd began to cheer wildly! He raised up his hands in the air and shouted, “He’s GONE, He’s GONE! I’m here!”

What a parallel to our new life in Christ! Once Christ is in your heart and has forgiven you, the old self is GONE! We should be so excited about that! Just throw your arms up in the air and shout for joy! What a glorious day!

The other parallel is that now that little old man has a choice. He can continue in his new life with discipline and perseverance or he can sit down with a hamburger and fries and walk away from all that has been done for him. Oh, how often we do that! We get tempted by the same old sin and forget how miserable being “out of shape” was! We forget that discipline is so much more rewarding, even though at that instance it seems like a mountain to climb before us!

Gerald is a great reminder to me that the work is worth it! Christianity is not a cake walk. Just like exercise, it takes work. And just as the people on the show carry less burdens and are more free, we too can walk in the freedom that living for Christ can bring. So, commit with me to the exercise of discipline. Yes, we’ll have bad moments where we slip, but may that be the exception and not the rule. We can do this!