Losing the Baby Fat

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” (1 Corinthians 13:9-11).

I spent yesterday morning at a kindergarten party celebrating the literary genius of Dr. Seuss. On the menu? Green eggs and ham, of course. Amidst the blending of green and eggs, the conversation amongst the chefs turned to babies. Baby fat in particular. Goals for losing the baby fat, to be more precise. I commented that I, too, was trying to lose my baby fat. When the others asked me how old my baby was, I smiled and answered…

Almost nineteen!

We had a good laugh at my expense. Yes, there have been three other babies since that moment back in 1989. Each one of them has added to my poundage, and they remain my excuse for the condition of this fleshly frame.

Losing the baby fat. As it is with my physical frame, so it is with my spiritual nature.

It’s not always been an easy road…this casting off of childish things. I am prone to my toddler thinking. To my whining and to my possessive nature. To a mouth that doesn’t know when to keep its silence. To selfish play where “my rules” outweigh the common good. To ears that selectively hear. To a mind that egocentrically thinks. Indeed, I have not lost all of my baby fat. Years of living as a child have added to my spiritual poundage. It weighs me down and keeps me from being the woman of God that I desire to be.

I want to lose some weight. I want to cast off the talking, the thinking, and the reasoning of my childhood. I want to speak more thoughtfully, think more carefully, and reason more sacredly. But all of my wanting and wishing will never lead me to a thorough embrace of spiritual adulthood. It’s a good start…this desire within. But unless it is channeled through a heart of obedience that bends to a Father’s shaping, my shape will always remain in a wanton state. Overweight and unfit for kingdom living.

So how do I move on to my perfection? I identify the source of my poundage, and I begin its neglect.

My “source” is linked to my mind and to my mouth. And as this mind thinketh, so it speaketh. Therefore, my pilgrimage to perfection begins with my neglect of these two contributors—a neglect of my words, and a neglect of those unhealthy thoughts that collect dust upon my mind’s shelf.

For me, it means less talking. Less television. Less internet surfing. Less secular music. Less shopping. Less eating. Less of everything that keeps my mind captivated on “less than” pursuits.

On the contrast, it means more silence. More time in God’s Word. More time listening and reading of resources that are birthed from a sacred perspective. More investment in people instead of things. More conscious decisions regarding my food choices. Simply, more of anything that keeps my mind fixed on my “more than” pursuit. My pursuit of Godly perfection. My pursuit of my Maker.

I can remain as I am…a child of God filled with childish thinking. Or, I can make the choice to move on. To grow up and begin to rid my flesh of the weight that loads my journey and hampers my progress. To become a child of God filled with Godly perspective…holier thinking…a more sacred reasoning.

I ask my kids what they want to be when they grow up. God asks the same of me this day. Forty-one years down the road, he continues to probe my heart for a deeper walk of grace. His, is a welcome prod, for I am ready to shed some weight.

It is time to relinquish the baby fat, my friends. Time to give up the milk and to begin our neglect of the “source” of our poundage. Time to focus, instead, on receiving the spiritual nourishment that will feed our minds and our souls for a life of sacred purpose. Time for a mature walk of faith that finds no contentment in making any further excuses.

We have been given everything we need for such a walk. As believers in Jesus Christ, we have been given God’s Spirit, and his Spirit is full of power. It is a power that exceeds the grave. It is a power that has authority and rule and dominion over everything beneath his feet (Eph. 1:18-21). It is a power bestowed upon us because of a Calvary love. It is a power I want and a power I need if I am going to move on to a life of spiritual adulthood.

And so today, I stand on the scales of my “current” for a full assessment. God and I have some work to do; therefore, I commit to the journey of perfection. Perhaps you, too, have a little baby fat left to lose. I invite you to join me on the pilgrimage. Stand on the scales of your current, and ask God to examine your heart. He is faithful to poke and to probe, in order to surface the source of your poundage. Let us begin our neglect of some “things,” and let us embrace the passionate pursuit of the one thing…the one God whose immeasurable love isn’t content to leave us as we are.

I want to put away childish things and so I pray…

“Take my life and let it be, consecrated Lord to Thee. Take my hands and let them move, at the impulse of Thy love. Take my feet and let them be, swift and beautiful for Thee. Take my voice and let me sing, always only for my King. Take my lips and let them be, filled with messages for Thee. Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold. Take my love, my God, I pour, at Thy feet its treasure store. Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee. Ever only all for Thee.”[i]

Move me on to Thy perfection, Lord, for I am ready to be made mature and complete in You, lacking in nothing. Amen.

peace for the journey~elaine

[i] Frances Havergal, “Take My Life,” 1873.