I Use to Be Skinny

I'm overweight. For many who know me this will be a surprise--especially for those who knew me in high school and college. I use to be as skinny as my son, Eli. Now, the proverbial "6 pounds you gain between Thanksgiving and New Year's" have become 10. The Rubicon came last night when my wife, Heather, felt my belly and said with a shock, "What is that?!"

Something must be done.

This may seem like a very hard turn, but all this reminded me of an article I read years ago by David Wells in which he asserted that we have settled for a "skinny God." We diminish God's glory, he says. We are suspicious and ungrateful for his goodness. We would rather make ourselves the center of attention than have God be the focus of our lives. In the process, Wells points out, we substitute our importance for his greatness. Our self-obsession results in the shrinking of our souls. Diminishing God diminishes us.

Perhaps I should be less concerned about my expanding waistline and more interested in expanding my soul--spend less time gazing at my navel and more time gazing at God.

Click here to read the entire David Wells article "On My Mind: The Skinny God."

Comments

  1. pelican1January 11, 2012 at 8:07 AM

    Oh, Paul, we can ALL identify with that! Thanks for your insight. I just started reading Ann Voskamp's Book, One Thousand Gifts, and she also focuses on being grateful to God for his goodness. May 2012 be a year in which we all grow in thanksgiving. By the way, this is Allyn (Davis) Tock - you'd never know that from my Google name... haha.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownJanuary 11, 2012 at 10:21 AM

    Thank you Paul. I have quite a few friends who pray every day to be thin. I shall share this with them (gently).

    ReplyDelete

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