Studies show that people in the United States are getting heavier and lazier. The obesity rate is higher than ever.
We are seeing a few fixes being implemented to try to help our overweight problem. Calories are listed on restaurant menus both for sit-down restaurants and fast food restaurants. Vending machines in certain locations now carry fruit and sugar-free options. One hospital I was in last year only had sugar-free soda. There are more stores selling all-natural foods and farmer’s markets are now all the rage.
What in the world has happened to our society to cause the obesity rate to sky rocket? I’ll tell you what it is. We have become lazy. We want the quickest, shortest way to get what we want and those providing service to society have found short cuts to make it happen. We use drive-thrus for everything – banking, food and pharmacy. We allow our kids, and ourselves, to play video games on TVs, computers, and phones to keep busy. And we grab quick foods instead of preparing healthy ones.
We get lazy in our spiritual lives, too. We look at our watch during church and complain the pastor talked too long. We complain the music wasn’t the upbeat or slowed down version of what we like. We want study time to fit into our schedule of no longer than 4-5 minutes because we have to get to work and start on our to-do list.
I love that restaurants are putting calories on their menus; makes me think before I eat something with 1,500 calories that I used to think was no big deal! I love that there are step trackers now that help remind me to keep moving. I love that I have podcasts to listen to while I am walking and five-minute devotions that allow me to get the spiritual word for the day that I need.
But I need more. I need to add a study that helps me dig deeper into His word and see what He wants me to do with certain areas of my life. I’ve become lazy in studying God’s word and I need to get up and exercise my spiritual self.
Today is day one of the rest of my life and it’s time I give up being lazy in my spiritual life. Will you join me? Here’s a few ideas: take a walk and listen to a podcast from a Christian speaker. Get up 15 minutes earlier and spend extra quiet time alone with the Lord. Add an extra devotion to your morning devotion routine and take time to read the scripture passages associated with the reading. Whatever the path, find a way to exercise more quality time with the Lord and you will find your “lazy” turns into “energy” in a flash!
