I was talking to our daughter a few days following this year’s family reunion; she was commenting on how she had forgotten the sense of responsibility you feel sitting in the large family circle every year as we gather for our Sunday service. We talked about those like her Granddaddy Bo, and Grandma Nell, along with her great grandparents, the Taylors, and Aunt Ann, who set such godly examples for each of us. She is now feeling the great need to honor their legacy and follow in their footsteps in raising her children. We talked about the incredible sense of accountability in gathering with the family and talking of the things God has been teaching us, and the blessings and trials we have each experienced this past year, as we have been apart.
Accountability is a wonderful thing and greatly needed for many of us. For years, I belonged to Weight Watchers and even worked there for a time. Mark would always comment that the thing which made Weight Watchers successful was the accountability. As an employee, you had to remain at or below your goal weight; otherwise, you were put on probation and if in six weeks you were unable to get to your goal weight or below, you were not allowed to work. For members, each week’s weigh in, standing on a scale in front of the woman working the desk, and those lined up behind you, kept you accountable. The one thing Mark just could not believe was that as a Lifetime member, if you were over your goal weight, you had to pay the Weight Watcher organization. What a way to run a business: you gain- you pay! Now, that will keep you accountable!
If only, we as Christians could realize that accountability is a good thing, a very good thing. Look at Jesus; he was accountable to the Father and to the twelve He discipled. They looked up to him, learned from him, followed him, desired to be like him, and carried on His work- His legacy, once He was gone. Jesus was accountable to the Father and those twelve men for His actions, His words, His work, and His walk. They were doing life-on-life with Jesus, day in and day out. Jesus was accountable to the Father and the twelve, and the twelve were accountable to Jesus.
Let’s apply the Weight Watcher philosophy to our everyday lives. We are accountable to Christ, right? We are to live according to His word and practice daily faithful obedience in our walk with Him, right? We are to weigh in every day, right? What happens if you or I do not weigh in for a day or two or even a week? What is the result of missing that daily accountability? We slide back into our old ways; we gain excess weight- ungodly baggage- rolls around the middle!
Mark’s dad, Bo, was as a pastor, and as such, he was accountable first to God, then to his wife and family, then the denomination, and finally to his congregation and the staff who served under him. During his life there was daily accountability that kept him spiritually fit.
Who are you accountable to on a daily basis? Are you finding that you are gaining around the middle, carrying excess baggage that is hindering your walk with the Lord due to the lack of accountability in your life? I want to encourage you, as I encouraged so many who daily came to weigh in at Weight Watchers- DO NOT MISS YOUR WEIGH IN!
You gain- you pay! It will cost you greatly!
Father, draw me daily to You and away from the pulls and temptations of this world. Help me to daily discipline myself to take in just what You desire for me to feast on from Your word. Teach me the discipline of walking with You and You alone. Through the leading and indwelling of the Holy Spirit keep me accountable.
“The Lord has given me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word, he awakens me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple. The Lord God has opened my ear; and I was not disobedient nor did I turn back.” Isaiah 50:4-5
“The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inmost parts of his being.” Proverbs 20:27
“The Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night.” Psalm 42:8
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, lay aside every encumbrance (weight) and the sin which so easily entangles us; and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
dianne