by Rhonda Rhea
“Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 7For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. We urge you, brothers, to do so more and more”
1 Thessalonians 4:1-2, 7, 10, NIV.
My wonderful hubby surprised me this year with an anniversary cruise! We had the most marvelous time just being together for seven days. Perfectly glorious!
And the cruise was spectacular. Especially the food.
A cruise and overeating. They go together like a hand in glove. Um…like a size 10 hand in a size 2 glove. It’s all the gourmet food you can eat, for crying out loud. I guess I was just asking for a trip back to maternity pants. I now refer to myself as “16 years post-partum.”
On prime rib night, we were walking out of the dining room and my husband, even though he was about to move his belt over a notch, said he was thinking of ordering yet another prime rib. Another one! I figured that would cost him at least another two notches. I told him I thought that would be a mistake. Get it? Prime rib? “Mis-steak”?
Anytime we’re going to overdo, though, it’s good to make sure we’re overdoing the right things. 1 Thessalonians 4:1 talks about living right to please God and then it says, “Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.” It’s an encouragement to keep growing.
We grow as we seek to understand more and more about our awesome God through studying his word and through praying to him and connecting to a local body of believers where we can learn and where we can serve. We grow as we seek to walk in righteousness—seek to become more like Jesus every day. And our growth is not an option. It’s a command.
Growing on the physical side? Okay, that’s a bit different. The staff on the ship said that the average person gains seven to ten pounds on a seven-day cruise.
But then, I’ve always considered myself an overachiever.
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