21 Days to Die

I just completed a 21-day program in which I ate nothing but whole foods. Nothing processed. Nothing fake.

I am not a cook, and everything had to be made from scratch, so this was a huge challenge for me. It was like a 21-day cooking boot camp. Like in any boot camp, the old self was beat out of me and a new one was born.

The first few days were tough (like I-might-just-eat-my-arm-off-I’m-so-hungry tough). I was not feeling great and began to question the virtues of the changes I had made.

Then things began to change. I began to crave the mass amounts of veggies I was eating. I found I actually enjoyed sloooowing down to eat my meal (instead of inhaling it in anticipation of the inevitable, “MOOOM! Simon just took my…” dispute).

All along, I fully intended this to be a temporary 21-day deal. I looked forward to Day 22 for all sorts of reasons (some of them peanut butter related). But the funny thing is, my old favorites didn't taste the same to me. More than that, they didn't digest the same way either (Ugh). I actually felt sick to my stomach.

I had so committed myself to recalibrating my body from the inside out, it no longer tolerated what it used to. And in the end I found?

I felt more alive.

Old habits had to die in order for me to experience

So it goes when feeding the soul. I don’t think we realize how much sin affects the health of our very soul. Giving up some well-enjoyed vices like short-temperedness, impatience, or selfishness can be painful. You know it’s true. I mean, how easy is it to brush off unloving behavior because we had a “long day” or were “just tired”? We excuse ourselves. When, in reality, we just fed our soul JUNK. Consume too much of that and we waddle around in an obesity of sin.

So? The junk consumption has gotta die. We’ve got to force-feed ourselves the patience, goodness, kindness and gentleness until we crave them. We’ve got to feast on love until selfishness doesn’t taste the same. We’ve got to let the Holy Spirit wash through us so completely that our souls can no longer tolerate sin.

It is the only way to live.