71 Days | Building A Strong Wall

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. -Prov. 25:28

Tonight, I received a text from a "90 Day-er."  After a rough day of being reemed out by the boss for something he didn't do, this person just wanted to take a headlong dive into a giant steak and baked potato.  What the heck...throw in some dessert and a couple of glasses of wine too!

Ever been there?  Here are a few of my thoughts...

Self-Control: The Great Wall of Defense

Francine Rivers is one of my favorite authors.  A few years ago I read her novella entitled "Rahab." If you are familiar with the account of Joshua and the battle of Jericho, this story took you on an insider perspective of that story. It gave an awesome depiction of the battle at Jericho.  What I distinctly remember was the emphasis on the city walls.  The city walls were also called the "Defensive Walls" and for good reason.  They protected the city from any outside dangers and harm.  If you wanted to conquer a city, you had to overcome the walls.

The walls around a city were tall and made of bricks and stones and mortar.  They were meant to be impenetrable.   Men with weapons guarded the wall--and the city gate.  The gate was the only place for outside forces to enter.

In order for Joshua to conquer the city, he had to first conquer the walls.  It seemed crazy what God asked him to do, but he marched and the horns blew and...well, the walls came down, exposing Jericho to a massacre of great magnitude.  No protection was going to keep out the army that had one thing on its mind--VICTORY!

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.  How extremely vulnerable and weak!  Worse than weak.  What is weaker than weak?  I can't seem to find a word for it.

We need city walls around our hearts and our minds.  We need impenetrable walls to keep us from utter defeat.  When I am lacking self control, I am very weak to the temptations around me.  That weakness brings about a massacre of epic proportions.  I can't afford that!  

The word of the day is: SELF CONTROL.  It is something that needs to be exercised.  It's like a muscle.  The more we use it, the stronger it becomes.

So, the 90 Day-er was right to reach out.  He knew his walls were being compromised and he needed to call in the defense team to secure the gate.  We texted through the situation and he felt much better.  I don't think he fell headlong into food.  He was going to look for other rewards instead.  

What are ways you reward yourself that aren't food?
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