Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/81

Contributor - Henry Van Essen

Title - The Proof of The Diet Is In the Eating

Topic - Women

How can you be sure that a certain diet is going to work for you ? There is actually only one way: DO IT - do it 100% follow it all the way! That seems a reasonable thing to do, and yet is surprising how many people think that just a little breaking of the diet rules here and there won't matter. Oh, it is only a little bit, is it so important? A little bit won't matter. Those on the diet do not just have to battle themselves and their own wishes, there are also the temptations which well-meaning people place in their way. But how can you find out whether a diet works if you do not follow it I 00%? Cheat a little here, cheat a little there, now tell me, is it the diet that doesn't work, or is it the cheating which keeps the diet from functioning?

The same is true for alcoholics whose only hope for sobriety is total abstinence. As one man said to me, "One glass is one to many, but a dozen drinks are not enough". He really battled this through, and at this time has about five years of sobriety. This man does not only have to battle himself, he also has to battle with the temptations his own father puts up. He is a good father, well behaved, a church-going man, but at the same time a father who does not understand the situation of an alcoholic. "Come on, son, it's Christmas, just one glass of sherry won't hurt you ... It's your mother's birthday, don't be the odd man out." There also are his friends, at whose 25th anniversary he is urged not to be a party-pooper. But the man's diet, his abstaining from all forms of alcohol is a matter of life and death. He knows it, but they don't believe it. Yet, should he take a drink and start drinking again, what will the people say? Oh, that A.A. program does not work; or the alcoholic treatment centre is a waste of money.

The proof of the diet is in the eating. The proof of the statement is in sticking to it 100%. The reason that people do not stick 100% to a diet or program is lack of commitment. It takes something to give up certain things in life. The doctor says,: your lungs are bad, your heart is bad, don't smoke. It's hard to accept the truth about your physical condition - It can't be that! Probably a cold, or nerves, or tension. We do not take the words of the doctor seriously. Another reason for not taking warning words seriously is unwillingness, plain old-fashioned bullheadedness, defiance, "I'll do as I please, nobody is going to tell me what to do". And when anybody reminds us of our condition or hints that we should act more responsibly, chances are that we react none too nicely. We have become rather thin-skinned because deep down we know the truth, but we are not going to own up to it, definitely not to that so and so.

All these remarks have also their place in our Christian faith. The Christian faith is based on what the Lord God has revealed through the prophets in the Old Testament and revealed through His Son, the Lord Jesus while He was on earth, and later revealed through the writers of the New Testament. But THE teacher is the Lord Jesus. He said that he came to give His life as a ransom for many. The teaching of the Lord Jesus is, that all people have broken their good relationship with the Lord God, the Almighty One. All people come short of the glory of God, The Lord Jesus says that He alone is the Way to the Father. HE is the Light of the world, HE is the Life, HE is the Door by which we all must enter. Nobody comes to the Father but by Me, he says. The only way in which He can be our Life, Light, Door, Truth and Way is by dying on the cross in our place, bearing our sin. This is exclusive teaching; as Peter says in his Pentecost Sermon, fifty days after Easter: "There is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved". That name is Jesus Christ! That name is not Buddha, not Mohammed, not Kishna, not Guru, nor a system of thought. The only name by which we must be saved and can be saved is Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Himself who says, "I am the Way, I am the Truth". The only way to find out about the truth is by doing. The proof of the diet is in the eating, the proof of the Gospel is by doing the Gospel, by living the Gospel. There is no other way of finding out.

Take as an example what an older teenage girl once said to me: "Someday I will make confession of faith, but not yet, I first want to have some fun yet." I asked here when the fun period would end. "Oh," she said, "probably when I get married." Now it is clear what this girl thought: being a Christian is Dullsville. All pray and no play makes Debbie a dull girl. At least, that's her opinion. Over against this, is the word of the Lord Jesus, "I came that they might have life and have it more abundantly". Jesus says that only His followers have abundant life; Jesus says that the Playboy and Penthouse gang are dead boys, that the Toga Parties at Carleton University are Dullsville. He says, "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, why for that which turns to ashes in your hands and mouth?"

Kurt Vonnegut in his novel Jailbird, has one character say about another who became a Christian, "He had so opened himself to the consolations of religion that he had become an imbecile", i.e Christianity causes your intellect to go downhill. But the Lord Jesus says, am the truth, I have the words of life . Who is right? The word is, that you do not find out until you do the word of Jesus. Not on a trial basis, but in total commitment. Not just for four weeks, but on a long term affair. A commitment to the word of God is long-term, it is a life-long affair.

You can study Christianity, you " study religion, or other religions, but you never find out until you do the truth. You will never know Jesus as your Saviour and Lord until you, by faith, receive Him as your Saviour and Lord. That is not a matter of the mind, it is not a matter of emotion. That is finally pure and simple a matter of the will. Jesus says, "if any man's will is to do God's will he !hall know whether this teaching is from God". The girl who was first going to have, what she called, a good time said, in effect, "I am not willing to do God's will right now. I first want to do this and that and the other thing. I want to do my own thing first". This girl simply said, God can wait. The Creator of heaven and earth can wait, He Who died for me on the cross can wait, He Who invites me to share in His death and resurrection can wait, He Who invites me to the Lord's table can wait. When I feel like doing what He says, then I will do it. Now don't be surprised if that girl three years from now still says that the Christian life is Dullsville. For the proof of Jesus' words is in the doing.

But not all people are like this girl. Many people are like those who stick to the diet 60 or 80 or 90%. They follow but as closely as they want to. They do allow themselves some freedoms. After all, remember, all pray and no play makes us dull people. However, where is the abundant life? Where is the full assurance of salvation? Where is the quite peace in the face of sudden death? Where is the victory over sin in such lives? Where is the closer walk with God, the fellowship with Him? A favourite hymn is, "What a friend we have in Jesus"; the friend of which we sing, "He walks with me and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there nobody has ever known". Is Jesus your friend like that? Remember, we cannot really say that the diet does not work if we do not follow it I 00%. So we cannot really say that assurance of eternal life, freedom from sin, close fellowship with God are impossible, if we do not seek to do His will.

In John 8 vs. 31 we read, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free". Later verses make clear that Jesus meant freedom from slavery of sin, freedom from the power that makes us live contrary to God's will. How does one receive that freedom? By continuing in Jesus' word. To remain in His word, is to live it, to breathe it, to do it. To continue in His word is an act of our will. We decide how we spend our time, we decide who or what is more important: our friends, our parties, our sport, our favourite TV programs or the Lord, His will, His word, fellowship with Him and with other believers.

Many Christian people struggle with strong desires to do things contrary to God's word, to live as they themselves see fit, not as God asks. The next thing is that they convince themselves that the Bible is old-fashioned, that you can't take it all literally. All this, so that they can give in to their desires, so that they can break God's diet. This means committing sin and, says Jesus very strongly, "Truly, truly, everyone who commits sin, is a slave to sin". Many people who claim freedom in the Lord, really have no freedom. They are slaves to their desires, disobedient to the Lord. They do not have the strength to withstand temptation.

Many people want a God of love who allows everything, who always understands. But the Lord God is also just, a God of righteousness, who desires obedience, not sacrifice; who wants us to totally commit ourselves to His will. In obedience Jesus was willing to give Hi life for us. It was a total commitment Jesus to die on the cross for us. Why not search yourself and face the question, "Am I willing to do the will of Him Who sent Jesus? Am I willing to keep His word? Am I willing to commit myself to God's diet?" Any shade of NO in answer to these questions shows our desire to cheat on God's diet. That is dangerous, for cheating on God's diet can rob us of the assurance that God's word is true, of power over sin, of assurance of eternal life, and of a close walk with God and Jesus.

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take him at his word,

Just to rest upon his promise, to know, "Thus saith the Lord".

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