Paying the Landlord

I love the pastor at my church.  Not in a freaky sort of way...like in the "I love chocolate" kind of way.  Week after week he comes up with sermons that are not only scripturally accurate and solid, but that somehow manage to dig down to the core of my being and force me to examine myself in light of truth.  On top of that, he's (dare I say) ...entertaining!!  It's nice to go to a church service I don't have to pump myself full of coffee, or prop my eyes open with toothpicks, to get through.  More than that, it's "nice" to go to a church that keeps me thinking all week.

Last Sunday, in the midst of a great message, he shared an analogy whose deeper meaning will forever change me. 

Imagine you are living in an apartment.  Day after day the landlord bangs on your door demanding more and more rent...which you have no choice but to pay.  One day someone shows up and tells you he has a condo waiting for you that has been bought and paid for in full--all you need to do is move.  Naturally you load up the U-Haul...but just as you're putting the final picture on your new wall, the old landlord bangs on your door demanding to be paid.

This is an illustration of Romans 6.  In a nutshell, when we are "saved", we are no longer slaves to sin.  The problem is we sometimes still "pay the landlord" even though we don't owe him anything.  We were challenged on Sunday to prayerfully examine our lives, asking God to reveal any sin areas that need to be dealt with.

I have known for quite a long time one major are of sin in my life is gluttony.  I don't eat to live...for a long time I have lived to eat.  Sure, I've tried to break this cycle many times.  For the last seven months I've had some external "forces" that have "assisted" me in breaking my addiction to food (allergies).  There's a sense in which we are all addicted to food because, yes, we all have to eat to live.  But, I go WAY beyond just satisfying a basic need to fuel my body.  Truth be told, I worship food.

If I were addicted to heroine or alcohol or cigarettes, you'd applaud my admission.  I could join an "anonymous" group and 12-step myself to freedom.  I started to say there's not a program for food addiction...but, alas, Overeaters Anonymous has proven me wrong.  However, my point is most people look at me like I'm crazy when I say I'm addicted to food....like I've said I'm addicted to breathing air!  The worst part is, I KNOW I don't look the part.  I'm at the point in my life I can even call myself "thin".  So it makes it that much harder to confess my sin.  To make matters even worse, because I'm a runner, it's not like I can avoid eating.  I have to fuel my work outs.  But, I think anyone would agree...fuel doesn't have to look like this:

I used to believe I had no power over food.  In the analogy it would be like giving all my bank account information to the landlord.  The truth is, because of what Christ did for me on the cross...there is NO sin-including gluttony-that has any power over me at all. 

I'm living in the condo...and I'm going to open the door that landlord is banging on and tell him to get lost!!!