Okay, raise your hand if you don’t know that obesity is a growing problem (excuse the pun) in the United States. If your hand is raised, then you’ve obviously: a.) been backpacking in the Himalayas for the past decade; b.) never actually read this newspaper; or c.) chosen to dwell in a state of blissful, albeit perilous, denial.
Who hasn’t seen T.V. news footage taken on city streets teeming with herds of people with extra-large keisters waddling around, while the voiceover reporter chides us for becoming a nation of couch spuds? I live in constant fear that one evening I’ll actually see my own ample heinie strolling by in front of the camera.
Surely we’ve all gotten the message by now. Seriously, who doesn’t know that many among us eat too much and exercise too little?
Yet, while I’m sick of the incessant harping on our bad habits, I must reluctantly admit that the media blitz has, in fact, had the intended effect on me.
I can’t even peacefully eat a good cheeseburger anymore. I tried recently and every time I took a bite, I thought about empty calories and that doggone food pyramid. My “inner skinny person” droned on like the goldfish in “The Cat in the Hat” children’s book – “I do not like this, not one little bit.”
I felt an overwhelming, neurotic compulsion to consume vegetables and anti-oxidants. We had taken our fast-food feast home with us, and I found myself actually skipping the fries altogether and nuking a package of mixed veggies to take their place.
Who does that? Who actually cooks mixed vegetables to eat with a Dixie cheeseburger? It should be illegal.
What have the food Nazis done to me?
But I’m not sure the incessant “eat healthy” mantra is having that effect on everyone. While nutritious options are now available at most restaurants, I saw a commercial the other day touting a fast-food meal that consisted of fried chicken strips, french fries, fried onion rings and gravy. Talk about your heart attack on a plate. Just watching the commercial made me feel like I needed to scrape grease off the roof of my mouth and roto-root my arteries.
The health gurus are certainly trying hard to lead us to the proverbial water, but it appears some are choosing not to drink.
The bottom (again, excuse the pun) line is this: A message sent is not necessarily a message received; and a message received is not necessarily a message embraced.
And that’s not just true when it comes to our physical well-being. Perhaps it is even more true in matters of spiritual health, where the consequences of rejecting the message are much more serious than tight blue jeans or even clogged arteries.
No country in the world is more saturated with the Gospel of Jesus Christ than the United States. Our streets are lined with churches. Our airwaves are full of television and radio programs proclaiming and explaining…and yes, admittedly sometimes misrepresenting…biblical truth. If you have internet access, you could spend every minute of every day reading or listening to some of the greatest preachers and Bible teachers on our planet.
Few Americans will be able to stand before God and say, “I didn’t hear.”
But many will say, “I didn’t believe.”
The message is out there; have you gotten it?
“…he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” – Jesus Christ (in John 5:24)