An Apple A Day

So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification-and the end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.     Romans 6:20-23 HCSB

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. My grandmother used to quote this saying to me often. I was never a fan of apples. To be totally honest, there isn’t much fruit I like. I do like vegetables, but the point of this saying is eating healthy will help us to live better, healthier lives. I will admit I am not a healthy eater.

The problem is I really like sweets. This became such a problem in the last few months I have had to cut out sweets altogether. Several years back, I developed a wheat allergy. For a couple months, I had to remove wheat from my diet. The result of eating wheat was it made me feel terrible. Now the result of me eating sugar is I feel miserable.

I went to my doctor. When she asked what was wrong, I had to respond I was eating too much sugar. I felt like an idiot saying that. No one held me down and poured sugar in my mouth, I did it to myself. Because I had overdone it with the sugar, my doctor had to prescribe some things to clean up my system from the damage the sugar had done.

Sin is just like that. It looks good, it smells good, it tastes good, and it feels good for a short time. The problem is it’s not worth the suffering that will follow. It’s not worth eternal damnation. I know because for many years, I lived with intentional sin.

I lived with sin I could have given up, but I didn’t want to. Just like the sugar, I knew it wasn’t good for me. I just kept ingesting it. I kept putting garbage in and getting garbage out. It was a vicious cycle. God has a prescription that will clean our sin up as well.

I will admit on Thanksgiving Day I would have loved to have eaten some of the cakes and pies my mother-in-law had made. I could have eaten them and suffered the rest of the night and maybe the next day. The misery that would follow, however, was not worth the temporary enjoyment.

After two weeks without sugar, I feel so much better. I am actually sleeping at night. Romans 12:1 tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. We are told in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which is God’s.

God did not build our body to run on sugar, junk food, fast food, alcohol, or drugs. We are designed to run off lots of Jesus. We are to set ourselves apart and dedicate ourselves to Him. We were created to be in fellowship with God. We are to produce the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and not the fruits of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21).

An apple a day may or may not keep the doctor away. I can’t verify this because I’m not a fan of apples. What I can verify is a good, healthy dose of Jesus helps keep the devil at bay. It helps to produce a healthy mind. It gives us wisdom. It helps to reduce stress which can cause a whole host of health issues.

Fill your temple with Jesus and you will produce good fruit. Trust in Him today. Surrender to Him and allow Him to help you remove the bad stuff. He will have you feeling better in no time.

Have a great day!