The Preacher's Pen

I am Atkins man! Without even knowing it I have been living the Atkins diet now for years. I was Atkins when Atkins wasn't cool!

In case you have been living on Mars for the last year you should know the Atkins Diet is now the new rage. Sweeping across the country Dr. Atkins is certain if we will all just eat lots and lots of meat, few vegetables, and no carbohydrates we will all lose weight and be healthy. As Dena read these requirements to me from Atkins' best-selling book it hit me: this is what I've been doing for years. No wonder I'm so healthy! I've been eating meat and pushing vegetables away since I was born. Okay, so I do eat some bread, and lots of sweets, but generally speaking, I'm an Atkins kind of guy. I guess I'll never gain another pound and probably live longer than Methuselah.

Pretty lame, huh? I haven't really been following Atkins' diet (or any other). I just eat what I want when I want (and run it all off later!). Trying to decide now that I'm somehow aligned with any kind of healthy eating plan is ridiculous. Yet how many people discover New Testament Christianity, realize some of the principles of their life are the same (like integrity and honesty and not murdering folks), and then decide ""Hey, I'm a Christian!""? It doesn't work like that, does it? Christianity is born of a deep commitment to being like Jesus because that is God's will for my life not because I happen to agree that is the way to live. It is such a radical change and commitment Jesus calls it a new birth (see John 3:5ff). Think about it: do you just live some of the stuff in Christianity you like, or have you been born again?