January 18, 2010

Day 17

Weight: 202 lbs

Weight lost: -4

“All the fat belongs to the Lord,” Leviticus 3:16.

This morning the temperature on the thermostat outside the kitchen window reads 16 degrees. I wish I was in Kona today. As I stepped out to pick up the newspaper on the front step I felt the stark difference: my temperature is 98.5. Inside my body I am burning fuel, the food my body is chemically consuming. The calories in that food are the units of energy released to keep me going. I am, so to speak, on fire… And fat is the hottest form of heat…

In the Old Testament God required Israel to burn animal sacrifices as acts of worship.  In particular they were to burn the fact of the animals.  They were not to eat fat or fatty foods. The fat represented the richness of life, the best, and this belonged to God.  This also, we know now, a wise dietary direction.  Eating fat is an unhealthy choice.  The fat was to be burned and give and God.

Okay. Today I will look at this Eucharist Diet as a way of worship. Paul writes in Romans 12 that we are to present our bodies as a “living sacrifice.” “Burning fat” is a way to fuel my love for God. God himself is a “fire” and when he comes he consumes what belongs to him. When he is present in me, in my body, mind and emotions, he “ignites” me and burns away the excess.

“God, I am designed to worship you. I am yours. My body belongs to you. Today I ask that you will ‘burn’ the fat with the fire of your presence. I give it to you. I will also limit my consumption of fat in the foods I eat. This too is a way of worship. God, burn up what belongs to you! Burn the fat!”

“The Eucharist Diet” adventure is my six month experiment taking daily communion and tracking and posting the results in my personal life, relationships, health, and body fat percentage.