The Death of Me

I am on a weight loss journey. I believe that this journey will be never ending. Why, you may ask? Well, I have had the honor of having two kids, and because age waits for no man, I have the privilege and the experience of dealing with time and a slowing metabolism.

Where I live, steps are involved. These steps I cannot avoid because if I want to go to bed, access my clothes, shoes and accessories, I need to walk up steps. My steps, when I first moved in, I thought would be the death of me because my room is on the third floor in my house. So, depending on where in the house I am coming from, on any occasion, I walk anywhere from 1-3 short flights of stairs...at a time...multiple times a day.

But today, while fussing about the steps, internally, (after making the comment of how these steps would be the death of me because my day had consisted of jumping in and out of the car to run to various buildings) my perspective on my steps changed.

No, they are not the death of me, but indeed, are assisting in giving me life. Every day I wear a watch that tracks my steps, how many calories I’ve burned and miles I’ve walked. If I didn’t have these steps, my total number of steps would not have increased much by the end of the day. Yes, I went to various buildings, but how far back did I really park? Yes, I walked those buildings, but how far did I walk while in the buildings? Remember, I am on a never ending weight loss journey, so steps are important to me on a daily basis. I feel a slight sense of failure when I don’t make my 10,000 steps at the end of the day.

This same concept can be applied to our walk with Christ.

“But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead.” Ephesians 2:4,5 (NLT)

Because of His death, burial and resurrection, we are on a constant journey with Him. See, Christ took steps for us too. He had to be born as a human, be crucified on the cross for our sins (Isaiah 53:4-5, MSG) and resurrected from the dead to be re-seated at the right hand of God in order for the ultimate plan of eternal life for the believer to be complete. And if Christ had to take steps, why should I expect anything less than that for myself? My faith walk has been and will continue to be a series of steps. Steps towards a stronger faith; steps towards a greater understanding of the word of God; steps. Nothing but steps leading me deeper and deeper into this loving relationship with Jesus Christ. These steps that I take with Him will go on for a lifetime. Will there be some days where I don’t want to take the steps? Of course! But I will also choose to recognize that it is in those days that I need to take them the most. Those long days where crisis after crisis pop up one after another and days where I am being given an answer or explanation that I’d prefer not to hear. On those days, I have to remind myself of Ephesians 1: 11 (NLT):

“Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to his plan”.

When I take the step in choosing to remember that God is supreme in my life and that He holds every single outcome in his hand, it becomes the death of me. The death of my flesh in wanting to step in and try to fix it in an effort to change the outcome. The death of allowing my emotions to dictate how I react to the situation and those that I love.

But even in death, there is life. I am given life when I choose to remind myself of this.

So, today, I have changed my perspective on my steps. My steps assist in making me stronger, causing me to increase the amount of calories burned and eventually add to my overall steps for the day, helping me to maintain a healthy weight.

The death of me… No, the LIFE of ME!