a pound of flesh? try nine

SHYLOCK: "The pound of flesh which I demand of him Is deerely bought, 'tis mine, and I will have it." Merchant of Venice

Since I started dieting with a professional nutritionist, I've lost 9 pounds. Do you know how much flesh nine pounds is? That's almost the weight of an adult's head. Imagine chopping off my head.

The more I think about it, the nutritionist does exactly what I do.

1. Helps you come to an awareness of how fat you are: like coming to an awareness of your sin.
2. Helps you to assess just how badly you're eating: like helping someone to see how their entire life has revolved around them
3. Gives you hope that you can lose weight through eating right and dieting, but tells you that its going to be really hard at first: like pointing out that Jesus' death and resurrection offers us new hope, but that dying to the self is a painful process
4. Tells me what to eat and not to eat in order to achieve my desired weight: like teaching someone how to read the scripture and how to pray
5. Checks my weight every week to make sure I'm on track: like holding a new believer accountable and making sure he/she is following through on his/her commitment

It's the same. Obviously, the glaring difference--one is entirely based on what I am able to accomplish through my works, while the other is entirely reliant upon God's grace.

Still, a whole head's worth of fat is a good start, eh?