Faithfully Fit day 26

Keep on keeping on: 

As Paul was moving forward to be more Christlike and follow Christ at all costs be told us:  Phil.3:13-14  "I know that I have not yet reached the goal, but there is one thing I always do.  Forgetting the past and straining toward what is ahead, I keep trying to reach the goal and get the prize for which God called me through Christ to the life above."

This would be a true statement for me and hopefully all Christians.  It led me to consider this striving in regards to my weight loss journey.  What is this race I'm running?  What is the prize I am pursuing?  What am I willing to do for it?  

When I was young my answer may have easily been to look good; to be thin; to be a size 7; to be considered pretty, dateable, worthy of attention.  Wow....as I type this I realize just how far I have come.  Now this race has a much more noble finish line.  I  race for my health, my life.  My prize will be much more than the end result of a thin waistline, nice legs, smaller  clothes or unmerited attention from shallow people who look only at the outer shell of my being.  Now I pursue a healthy life in which I can be used more readily for the service of God.  That He would use our (His and my) successes to encourage others.  Not only on their weight loss journey but also in their walk with Him.  

Before the journey began I wanted to go on a mission trip to a foreign country.  I had a desire to do more, see more and understand more about the love of Christ to a world less rich (monetarily speaking) than I.   What held me back was my weight.  I was sure I would make it to the location and not be able to perform the  work due to my physical limitations.  That I would find myself sick and in a foreign, less than adequate hospital.  Surely, I know now, that my lack of faith in Christ keeping me safe along with the weight is truly what held me back.  Now I see that I can add this prize to the journey.  Not necessarily the end because I see that it was the faith part that I needed in this.  A lesson taught on His timeline and not my own.  

So....what am I willing to do for it?  To reach the prize....what am I willing to give up, start doing or change?  I know I have to change my behaviors into ones of diligence in the areas of prayer, eating, exercise and trusting in Him.  Onward and UPward I go.