I start this post hating to even talk about this.  One, because it hasn't been so long ago that I was struggling with this issue, and two because saying I'm cured makes it sound like I never have Diet Cokes or sugar ever.  Let me start out by saying right off the bat that is not true, and yet I will say that I know I have been cured.  But let's get on with this.

So recapping from yesterday, I was struggling with sugar and Diet Coke addictions.  This was a constant battle on a daily basis for me.  I would go for weeks at a time doing really well.  I wouldn't have any Diet Cokes.  I would eat what I was supposed to, and then I would have an excuse to have a Diet Coke and I would go back to drinking them on a regular basis--not 90 oz. a day like before, but just a small one at McDonalds every morning.  I would try just a little harder for a while and then go without sugar or Diet Cokes for a few weeks only to relapse back into the same old habits I'd had for decades.  It was a vicious cycle and this went on for months.

It wasn't until this past October or November that I was having my devotions on a Sunday morning.  I had been reading through Ezekiel for quite a while and that morning I can remember saying to the Lord as I started reading, "Isn't there anything good Ezekiel has to tell the Israelites?"  The whole book seemed to be nothing but Ezekiel warning the Israelites that God was going to judge them, and I was really hoping there would be something positive that I would read.  As I read through Ezekiel 33 that morning I came to verses 29-33.  You can look it up if you like, but let me paraphrase it. 

Pretty much God said that He was going to judge the Israelites, and they would know who He was but not until after he had left them desolate because of their sins.  The Israelites were looking pretty good outwardly.  They were even saying things like, "Let's go listen to the preacher."  Then we come to verse 31 which says, "And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them:  for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness."  When I read that verse it was as if the Lord was saying to me, "That's you, Eva.  You say you love Me, but then you go do what you want.  You drink Diet Coke and eat things you know you aren't supposed to."  But God didn't finish there in verse 32 he says, "And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not."  When I read verse 32 it was as if God hit the truth home just a little bit more.  The thought came to me at that moment, "After all Christ did for you, is it too much for God to ask you to give up sugar and Diet Cokes?" 

Now, you may be asking yourself, ok, yes, but how do you know you are cured of those addictions?  Ever since that Sunday morning every time I drive by a McDonalds, or Burger King, or any other fast food restaurant I ask myself that same question.  Is it too much for God to ask me not to get a Diet Coke?  Every time I go to a fellowship at church and the table is lined with cakes and pies and cookies I ask myself if it's too much for God to ask this of me.  And every time I have to say, "No, it's not too much for Him to ask this of me."  With the answer to that question the temptation just fades away.  I can look at tables lined with all the foods I used to eat and I have no desire for any of it. 

Do I go to McDonalds or Burger King or Arbys when I'm traveling?  Yes.  It is almost impossible to find paleo friendly meals on trips, but even when I do go to those places the desire to have those foods is gone.  I am merely eating to fill my stomach not to satisfy my mind.  Do I have a Diet Coke from time to time?  Not really so much any more.  I think there was one time I tried to get an orange juice and they were out that I bought a small one just to have something other than water to drink with my meal. 

Well, my next post will go back a few months to discuss the tests I have done to track my progress.  Until then.