NO NOW, YES LATER

When I was moving from Salisbury to Glen Burnie, MD some years ago, a family member a couple of friends helped me get my belongings moved. On our way out of Salisbury, MD we stopped at the BBQ place known as “Famous Dave’s.” As we sat at the table and got ready to order our meals, we talked about what each person was going to order. When it was my turn to share, I told them I had chosen to have the grilled shrimp meal that came with pineapple steak slices. One of the people in our group said to me, “What?! Why in the world would you order that? After all we are at a BBQ restaurant.”

My statement to this person and to the group was, “I am saying NO now, so I can say YES later.” In other words, I am choosing at this time to not have the rack of ribs or sirloin tips and making a conscious decision of delayed gratification in order to be successful at obtaining my goal of losing weight and changing my lifestyle. The questioning stopped as I told the group I had already lost 50 lbs and I was continuing to move forward to lose the rest of my weight.

On several occasions, I’ve craved Dunkin’ Donut’s Munchkins (donut holes). I would leave my house and drive to the local Dunkin’ Donuts to buy these little round donut balls of goodness. I argued with myself time and time again that I wanted them, but I didn’t need them. It was like the old cartoons with the devil on a shoulder and the angel on the other. I would get to the parking lot and pass through it and drive home telling myself that I am going to say NO now, so I can say YES later.

As I drink my coffee and reflect on scripture I keep thinking of how Daniel and his friends didn’t want to defile themselves with the kings delicacies that were offered up first to the false gods of Babylon. You find in Daniel 1: 8

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested… 

that he might not defile himself.”

My Thot: I too do not want to defile or indulge myself with foods that I don’t need now. I choose to say NO so I can say YES to them at a later date. The main thing to get from this is to learn delayed gratification. There are rewards for your faithfulness and amazing freedom and liberties in learning to say NO now. Trust me, saying no is not forever. It’s a season of delayed gratification, one that we as people need to learn. Comment below and SUBSCRIBE to receive blog updates in your inbox. 

Until next time grab a FREE Refill of the King's Brew @ the Soul Cafe.