Shepherd and Sheep Series-Balance between Eating and Exercise

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. On the other hand all play and no work makes Jack a lazy boy. Our God is the God of balance. Satan is the "god" of imbalance. The enemy will climb into the car of life and either tell you to put the pedal to the medal or stomp the brake to the floor. Either choice can wipe you out on the freeway of life. We will see God's desired balance between eating and exercise illustrated in the lives of sheep. If sheep spend too much time eating and ruminating, they will build up layers of fat. Obesity is a dangerous condition, since it is then easy for the sheep to roll over during a time of rumination. Rolling over is called casting. When a sheep is in this condition its center of gravity shifts so that it cannot right itself. Stomach gasses begin to swell the sheep’s stomach. The bloated stomach cuts off circulation to the feet, and the sheep is no longer able to stand upon them. The ultimate consequence of casting is death. God has placed significant warnings in Scripture for us to maintain a balance between the study of the Word and its application. The imbalance caused by study without application is strongly condemned in James 1: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror: For he beholds himself and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner of man he was. But whoso looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:22-25). Many pastors of local church have affirmed that the two groups of members who cause the most trouble are those who get too little spiritual food and those who get too much spiritual food (knowledge without application). Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.