Today many folks will return to work after a long holiday season. Fitness centers look forward to these early days of the new year as their memberships swell to their highest point of any other time and are filled with new members anxious to fulfill well-intended New Year’s resolutions to drop those extra pounds and get back in shape.
I once developed a software membership application for the owner of a fitness center chain and he used to laugh about this phenomenon, stating that all but a handful would drop out within just a few short weeks, but those yearlong contracts would keep him flush with cash for the entire year.
The Bible refers to our bodies as the “Temple of the Holy Spirit – Who is in you”. It goes on to state that we were “bought at a price” and therefore we should “glorify God” with our bodies.
One of Jesus’s angriest moments found recorded in the Bible was when He overturned the money changer tables and drove them and others engaged in commerce out of the temple in Jerusalem. To put it mildly He didn’t like the fact that His “House of Prayer” was being defiled.
I wonder what He might think of some of the Holy Spirit’s “temples” seen waddling in and out of fast food joints and riding scooters up and down the aisles of Walmart and grocery stores all over America.
As with their homes, people vary widely as to how they take care of their bodies.
Some have pride and work diligently to keep them up; while others seem to just let themselves go.
Have you ever wondered about this?
Why do some of us take very good care of our sacred temple while others do not? Some bombard their temples with excessive food, drink themselves into a stupor, let the sun burn and blister them, dress like slobs without even combing their hair or brushing their teeth, take drugs that destroy, ignore exercise and sensible diets, and so forth.
Americans in particular seem indifferent to consequences and as with so many other indulgences are not willing to forego even their slightest desires. Billions of dollars are spent looking for the easy solution; indeed books, videos, hypnotists, “fat farms”, pills, personal trainers, specialized foods, and exercise equipment are all available.
News Flash: Sensible diet, small portions, and modest exercise program will keep your temple in tip top shape; oh yeah and some will-power and self-discipline.
Yikes! Now I’ve gone and done it; it all sounded good right up to that last point . . . Pray for will-power and self-discipline and ask God’s Holy Spirit to give you the strength that you need to make this New Year’s program a lifelong success, and one that will enable you to “Glorify God and your spirit” from now until the Lord calls you home.
Don’t be a Temple of Doom . . . You’ll feel great!
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1Corinthians 6:17 . . .
But he who is joined to the Lord
Is one spirit with Him . . .
Or do you not know that your
Body is the temple of the Holy Spirit
Who is in you . . .
For you were bought at a price;
Therefore glorify God in your body
And in your spirit, which are God’s.
January 6, 2014 – Click here to listen