The morning after.

I always dread that "morning after" feeling! You know the morning after you've done a new work out and you know your muscles will be feeling like you singlehandedly moved a house full of furniture! Or the morning after you've been up way too late and you know you'll feel groggy all day long. Or how about the morning after you've binged on donuts, that your husband "surprised" you with, from a bakery that he just found! haha You get up the next morning and in fear and trepidation you step on the scale and *OUCH!* There it is in black and white. Huge numbers mocking your weakness from the day before. You would think a 40 something year old woman would know how to say NO to a box of donuts! After a downfall like that, I feel like Paul, when he said:

the good that I would, I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Romans 7:19

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Romans 7:24

This flesh we live in for now, is sure awful weak sometimes. So weak that it caves in to a box of sugared sweets! Then the next day you feel such guilt and remorse and vow to say NO to donuts and sweets from now on! You walk an extra mile on the treadmill, and eat Atkins all day long to make up for your slackness the day before. You do really well for a good long while and just when you feel like you're cresting the mountain top again with your weight and your health, someone brings you the gift of a nice piping, hot, apple pie! Well, you can't eat apple pie without ice cream can you?

We need to make our motto: "Just say No!" It reminds me of the SS song I used to teach my kids.

"When Mr. Satan knocks on my heart's door and says, "May I come in?" I say, "NO! NO! For Jesus loves me so, and He washed away my sin." Then he turns around and runs away, I wish he'd go away to stay! When Mr. Satan knocks on my heart's door, I just say, "No! No! No!"

Learning to say No to a donut seems pretty simple and it is. But there are lots of other areas in our life where we need to learn to so No, as well. We sure would save ourselves a lot of grief and heartache in this life if we would learn to say No to sin. What is it in your life today that you need to learn to say NO to? Is it anger? Laziness? Unfaithfulness? Gossip? Apathy? Whatever it is, determine in your heart to say NO, I'm not opening that door today! Then tomorrow you can wake up with a song in your heart and you won't have to suffer with that "morning after" feeling!