Ther Honeymoon Diet

The Honeymoon diet

That’s it, it’s over…the honeymoon has ended! Now you may think I am talking about marriage and in a way I am.  In marriage the honeymoon always seems to end to soon yet the honeymoon should never end. Marriage should be categorized by a love that is always fresh and always filled with passion. Not just physical passion though but a heartfelt passion (mental and spiritual).

This honeymoon applies to the spiritual life as well. When we first accept Jesus into our heart it’s like a honeymoon…there is passion, zeal and enthusiasm. But like marriage, this “Love” can diminish and often does.

This happens every day and it even happened in the Church at Ephesus. Jesus said they left their first love!

Revelations 2:1-7 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolai tans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

They had activity without intimacy. They were an active church but Jesus said they had "left their first love." Sometimes we are so busy doing activities but we lack intimacy with Jesus. The church at Ephesus had been faithful in the midst of many trials and faced many false teachings. They did not give in to these pressures. Jesus commended their faithfulness but criticized their lack of passion.

Jesus acknowledged this church for standing firm against false teaching. They took a strong doctrinal stance but lacked intimacy and spirituality. It is so easy to stand strong against doctrinal impurity but lack a love relationship with Jesus Christ. This is true of many people who claim to stand for "fundamental" beliefs. In many instances fundamentalism is nothing more than being a legal eagle. A legalist is a liberal turned inside out. Doctrine without spirituality is death!

This loss of passion can be a result of neglect. If you leave a camp fire burning and don’t tend to it, eventually it will go out.

This loss of passion could also be due to distractions.  If your garden has a lot of weeds, it will choke out the fruitful plants.

Consider the honeymoon analogy; we should go back in our minds and ‘remember’ the time when passion prevailed in our lives. We need to ‘repent’ from our backsliding. We need to ‘return’ to the first love we experienced. Returning requires we make a diligent effort.

Some of you know that I am a diabetic (type 2). When I was first diagnosed they had me on 3 different pills to control my disease. I hate taking pills! The doctor explained that this was necessary to control my sugar but if I lose weight (I weighed 275Lbs at the time) and ate a proper diet, he would take me off the pills.

I did lose the weight…. I now weigh 195lbs and at 6 foot tall, this is my ideal weight (probably could stand to lose another 10). I eat correctly and with the exception of a DR Pepper issue, I stay away from sugar. The result is the Doctor took me off ALL the pills and my diabetes is now diet controlled.

This took determination, effort and commitment. The same goes for our spiritual life. We need to lose the weight of sin and regret; we need to put ourselves on a diet of God’s word, prayer and fellowship.

Our faith and spiritual lives need to be diet controlled!