The Spirit is Willing...

"Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." -Mark 14:36

What a great verse for this journey!

Jesus, Peter, James and John were in the Garden, and Jesus was preparing for his betrayal, arrest, and death. How intense it must have been to know what the near-future (and the far-future!) held for himself and his beloved disciples.

Peter had just 'assured' him earlier that he surely would not be the one to deny him. His spirit was surely willing to follow Jesus to the ends of the earth. But, as we see later on in the chapter, his flesh is weak - he does just as Jesus had said to him and denied him 3 times before the rooster crowed twice.

Later, as Jesus goes off to pray ("Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.") the three disciples fall asleep...repeatedly. Jesus has these stern, yet comforting words to say... "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (my emphasis added)

Here's what I think... Truly, in the journey to living a healthy life, and losing weight, there are plenty of temptations. But the key to strength in the midst of these temptations, the key to "not entering into" is to "watch and pray." We're repeatedly told throughout scripture that our bodies are to be temples of the Spirit... and other similar things. Our physical health and well being is obviously important to God... not because we look good when we're not obese... but because it shows discipline and the ability to overcome temptation, it shows that Christ is the center of our lives, not food!. However, just trying to do this on our own is obviously not God's plan (and in my opinion, not truly possible).

Through prayer we can overcome temptation and make wise choices!