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((No,ThankYou,
I'mona
DIET..:'
ast year, Americans spent
over ten billion dollars on re–
ducing aids. They bought
pills, powders, liquid protein,
sweat girdles and
every other device hu–
man ingenuity could
devise- spending more than the na–
tional budget of Switzerland!
What was your own contribution
to this huge sum? Are you, like mil–
lions of others, concerned about your
weíght?
lf
you had the means-and
the wíllpower, of course- how much
would you be willing to spend, or to
sacrifice, to get rid of your excess
poundage?
Obesity is something everyone
bates. But ís obesity physical only?
Can it not be spiritual also?
It
cer–
taínly can be-and it often is. Ac–
tually, spirítual obesity is much
worse than physical obcsity. More–
over, there aren't spiritual girdles for
sale to deflate expanded egos, swol–
len pride or vanity. Are you as willing
to struggle to reduce your spiritual
obesity as you are your physical
fat?
Through the Eye of a Needle
What a pity most people are more
concerned wíth their physical condi–
tion than tbey are with their spiritual
development! How many of those
who faithfully follow the instructions
contained in their crash-diet hand–
books pay attention to the instruc–
tíons gíven in another Manual- a
24
by
Díbar Apartían
much more important one- which
helps us all to get rid of our spirilual
fat? We don't seem to rea lize 1hat
excess spíritual caloríes are more
harmful than excess physícal calo–
ríes.
To overcome spírítual obesity one
must follow a
spiritual diet;
this is
the only way 10 have peace of mind
and to experience spiritual growth.
The disciples of Chríst were often
unable to understand His parables.
They were even astounded by a stale–
ment He made about the rich.
A
young man had approached Jesus to
ask what he was supposed lo do in
order to inherit eterna! life. Christ
told hím to keep t he command–
ments.
But the young man wasn'l satis–
fied wi th thal answer. He had done
this as a matter of form sínce child–
hood. What d id he lack? What else
was there to do? When Christ told
him to sell all that he possessed and
give it to the poor, he walked away
sorrowful and depressed, becausc he
was very rich.
Turníng to His disciples, Christ
said: "1 say unto you, That a rích
man shall hardly enter into the king–
dom of heaven. And again
1
say unto
you, It ís easíer for a carne! to go
through the eye of a needle, than for
a rich man to enter ínto the kíngdom
of God" (Matt.
19:23-24).
As you see, the young man was
too
fat
with the pride of possession to be
able to pass through "the eye of a
needle." He was in díre need of a
spiritual diet;
he had to Jearn to de-
tach himsel f from hís ma t erial
wea l th- the obstacle whí ch pro–
duced in him superfluous spiritual
weíght. He needed to be ríd of it to
en1er ínto the Kingdom of God. How–
ever, he thought the price was too
hígh to pay. He dídn't wísh to slim
down in this way; he didn ' t realize
that he was much too overweight
with selfishness and the !ove of the
world.
The Narrow Door
On another occasion, Christ gave
His disciples the following teaching:
"Enter ye in at the straít gate: for
wide is the gate, and broad is the
way, that leadeth to destruction.
and many there be which go in
thereat: Because strai t ís the gate,
and narrow is the way, which lead–
eth unto Ií fe, and few there be that
find
it' '
(Matt.
7: 13- 14).
A "strait gate" and "narrow way' '
are certaínly larger than the "eye of
a needle." Nevertheless, to negotiate
them also requires much spiritual
thínning down- a spirítual díet
which consists of disciplining our–
selves, mastering our nature and de–
flating our ego.
Generally speaking, we are all very
tolerant of ourselves. We condone in
ourselves what we a re not willing to
overlook in others.
It
seems as
though- so far as we are con–
cerned- the golden rule is a one-way
street: We want to be well treated by
everyone regardless of how we treat
them. This is tantamount to entering
through the wide gate and following
The
PLAIN TRUTH February 1979