Introduction
Today is the beginning of a new journey towards healthy living. For the next 24 days you will be washing away the impurities in your body and replacing it with a healthy and clean foundation. Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”(John 10:10) When we give in to the temptations of eating poorly, it robs us of the abundant life that God intended for us to live. We may still live effective and productive lives, because God can (and will) use the ordinary, broken and weak to do his will, there is no doubt about it. Just think, though, how much more effective and productive our lives can be if fully surrender our bodies from the inside out. Think of what the word “abundantly” means, in the Webster 1828 Dictionary it is defined; Fully; amply; plentifully. I think all of us want this to describe the way we live our lives. This doesn’t come from anything we do, though, the 24 Day Challenge is just a tool for you to use. Just like our salvation, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9) God will bless us no matter what we look like or how we eat, but he has been good to us and he has been good to us and deserves our best. Romans 12:1 and 1 Corinthians 6:19 have become life verses for me and God has used them to call me into a life of surrender and sacrifice to him many times. This is what prompted me to start the 24 Day Challenge and I hope they become life verses for you as well. Romans 12:1 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship.” And 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” My prayer for you in the next 24 days is that this challenge would not just be another diet, but that it would be a journey of worship. That God would draw near to you as you surrender to him and that in the days ahead, you would experience him in a whole new way.