Paulo was a boy who was given every thing he wanted, as he was the darling of his mother's heart. Her only child, he had come unexpected, and of course she found him to be her joy and unexpected treasure during her middle-aged years, Paulo was born some what frail and his mother worried about him continually. Because of this, she developed the habit of over feeding Paulo which caused him to develop a weight problem very early in life.
How Paulo’s mother thought nothing of the fact that her son was somewhat disabled due to his ex¬cessive weight. She was always thinking up some new thing to buy him to eat or to cook for him to let him know that Momma loved him. Of course Paulo demanded whatever he wanted when he went with his mother to the store, and he learned very early that she could net say 'no' to him.
So, of course the child ingested far more than he needed and continued to pick up weight as he grew. Sometimes when Momma would take Paulo to a doctor she would be told that the child was over-weight and needed to reduce. Whenever Momma got a lecture like this from the doctor, she usually had one way of settling the problem. She would take him to another doctor, one who wouldn't bother her about his weight. After all, what loving mother was going to put her growing son on a diet? It would have been stupid to deny him while he was growing because it might stunt his growth, or so Momma believed
Before Paulo was fourteen, his father, who was quite a bit older than Momma, died of a heart attack. He was a heavyset man who loved to eat Momma's cooking and found him more and more bordering on obesity as he got older. But still, if he didn't eat all Momma's good cooking she would cry and pout and say that he no longer loved her. So, Paulo's father kept on eating, and did not slow down at all as he got older.
One day, he over-surfeited his heart and he had a heart attack which resulted in his death. Momma cried a lot when he died and talked over and over about how much he loved to eat her cooking, and now wonderful of a man he was. For his funeral feast Momma out-did herself and cooked a huge meal for all of the mourners, and of course, she had all of father's favorites.
So, every one gorged themselves and shook their heads in sorrow over his
death, and Paulo ate double that night, because he wanted to make his Momma
happy. Of course, she bragged on him to the other mourners about how he had
an appetite just like his father. So Momma, with Paulo's father dead, cooked the
food now for Paulo, who felt obliged to eat so that Momma would not pout and
cry. -
The more weight that Paulo gained, the less & desire he had to do anything that involved activity. Often, he would just sit slumped in a chair or lay out on the couch, and Momma would bring him more food. After all, she didn't have anyone else in the world now except her baby.
Sometimes Paulo, who was having trouble breathing, could not understand how that some of the boys he went to school with could run and do other physi¬cal things and he always seemed to have something wrong with him. Oh well, he wasn't born like they were, so he would just sit and eat or else lay and eat and console himself in his self-pity. Because Momma always said, "If you feel a little depressed, if you eat something you will feel better."
After a while, Paulo had so much trouble with his feet that he became dis¬abled and was unable to walk without a cane because his bones refused to carry his tremendous weight. But Momma just cried because she remembered he was born frail, and so probably he had weak bones. Poor baby, she told him not to worry; If he just ate well he would recover his strength. So, she cooked him more food and stationed Mm on the couch with a table in front Of him so he wouldn't have to get up to eat, but could sit still.
There were times when Paulo would get bored, and so he would tell his mother to go to the store and get him something different to eat, which she would do. Then they would enjoy eating the snack together. Paulo started sleep¬ing on the couch, which was really a hide-a-bed, so he didn’t have to try and walk to the bedroom. Because Momma told him if he just ate well, and didn't overdo himself, that he would "get his strength back." So, Paulo continued to eat find to eat and to eat, and Momma limited his exercise more and more because he was born frail, and she didn't want to see him break his little bones.
On certain days, Paulo would feel a desperate emptiness in his heart and he would ask Momma about God. But she didn't know much because she had not gone to Church much when she was a girl. She just would tell Paulo he didn’t need to worry because he was a good boy, and if he just kept on reading he would get his strength back, and then she would take him to church. This made Paulo happy because he wanted to know more about God. So he would eat to make his Momma happy, because he didn’t want to see her cry, and he knew he would “get his strength back,” then they would go to church and learn about God.
When he was thirty-three, Paulo died of a heart attack, just like his father had. And, Momma wept sorely and felt so bad that he hadn’t eaten enough to gain his strength back, so she had a huge feast for his funeral and cooked all of his favorites and told every one who gorged themselves that he was a frail baby “and needed to gain his strength.”
As the years passed, Paulo developed heart trouble at a much younger age than his father had. He becomes more incapable of even moving around the room without it being a tremendous strain on his body and his heart. So Momma reassured him that if he just kept on eating and resting he would soon be better and get his strength back.
She loved her baby so much, and often she would go to the store and buy him special things so he could regain his strength. Yet he only gained more weight. But Momma told him the weight would drop off easy once he started moving around again when he got his strength back from eating so well. Paulo did not like to see his mother cry, so he would eat whatever she cooked to make her happy. She didn’t have to cry and pout much with Paulo because he was a good eater which would help him get his strength back.
More often, Paulo kept asking Momma more about God. But she didn’t know much so she would tell him that God loved him to keep on eating so he could get strong and go to church. So Paulo would eat, because he wanted to know about God, and if he ate, “he could get his strength back and go to Church.”
More often, Paulo kept asking Momma more about God. But she didn’t know much so she would tell him that God loved him and wanted him to keep on eating………………………..
As Momma grew older, she never did discover what the Bible says concerning gluttony……………..
When he was thirty-three Paulo died of a heart attack, just like his father had. Momma wept sorely and felt so bad that he hadn’t eaten enough to gain his strength back, so she had a huge feast for his funeral and cooked all of his favorites, telling everyone who gorged themselves that he was a frail baby and needed to gain his strength.
Momma missed him am lot, even more than his father, and sometimes she would cry, but then she would pick up his picture and kiss it and tell him, “Don’t worry baby, Momma’s going to cook for you, and you can eat and get your strength back. Don’t worry baby, Momma’s going to give you your favorite; then you can eat all you want and get your strength back.”
Take not your “liberty in Christ” to sin. The Christian must EAT TO LIVE AND NOT LIVE TO EAT. Take not your “liberty in Christ” to eat and fellowship with religious hypocrites. For the Christian must not even eat with practicing sinners. Remember, in all things, bad company corrupts good morals.
“For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty………..”
Proverbs 23:21
“…….It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
Matthew 4:4
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