Today I found myself eating out of my cooler with my nice lunch that my husband so lovingly prepared for me. The reason for this is because of some food sensitivities. I ate my gluten free, hormone free turkey, cheese and organic spinach sandwich. The people who joined me in lunch came with their pizza, pop, cookies, and brownies. Now, let me preface my next series of thoughts with this; I love sweets and I love pizza. That being said, in MODERATION and with the right natural ingredients, some things are ok. Now I will never suggest drinking a pop here and there, because the fact is there are added chemicals you should avoid. I say this because the thought dawned on me that even though I was sitting with others, I was separated. Now partially because of things that I chose to do, but also allergies in my life prevent me from just enjoying just any ole food item. Honestly, as frustrating as it can be at times, I am thankful for the health journey that I’ve been on. I have learned a lot from health struggles and now I love being healthier and helping others implement the right things into their diet.

My food situation parallels my spiritual walk in some ways. When we give our lives to Jesus, we become a son or a daughter of God. We are now a citizen of Heaven. Our spirits our new, but until we die, our physical bodies live here on earth. There are now changes to in our lives. Once we surrender, there are things that you have to cut out of your life because you now know better. The motivation to eradicate these things should be LOVE because you love God, His son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. This should be because you’ve been receiving love. God is holy which means He’s separate. He calls us to separate ourselves from sin because He can not dwell with sin because He is holy. This does not mean He ever quits loving us, but explains why He so eagerly desires that we let go of sin in our lives.

Just today I went to grab some creamer for coffee. I was left with two options of creamer that were full of artificial colors, preservatives and words I can hardly pronounce. I use organic full fat creamer at home with no odd additives and I wanted some coffee, but not at the risk of putting a bunch of chemicals in my body. My husband lovingly stopped for me to get coffee with regular half and half on the way to our morning meeting. I say this to share that God is not asking us to separate because He’s just mean and doesn’t want us to have fun. He knows that just like the unnecessary chemicals in creamer, that sin is something that can be avoided and isn’t needed in our lives. To be honest, the real thing, His love is more pleasurable than sin is. Just like food, once you eradicate the artificial things, you learn that you have a taste for the real fresh life giving thing. A separation from things of sin will cause a genuine hunger for the things of God.

God by His Holy Spirit is challenging you to learn His goodness and receive His mercy. He is good and desires the best for your life. Sure it may be uncomfortable to pull yourself aside and “stand out”, but your life will yield much more pleasant fruit in the end.