The Epistle for this past Sunday, January 14, was from First
Corinthians. The section read included
this verse: Do you not know that your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and
that you are not your own (6:19)?
That verse gave me pause.
A temple is sacred. This verse
tells me I am sacred, and the Holy Spirit resides in me.
I continued my reflection.
A temple is to be well taken care of.
The God we believe in, worship, follow is a Triune God, and He made us
Triune beings—physical, mental and spiritual.
If I am a temple of the Holy Spirit, in order to take good care of this
temple, I need to take care of myself in these three areas. For today, I’ll just reflect on the physical
aspect of myself.
The medical industry tells me I need to rest properly, avoid
dangerous situations, exercise and provide my body with proper
nourishment. That’s the way God made
me—I need food in order for my body to function properly. But nowhere in the New Testament did He tell
me any foods are forbidden (yes, food rules were given to the Israelites). He did place within me an appestat, which
lets me know when I am hungry and when I am full just as the gas gauge in my
car tells me when to fill the tank and when I don’t need to.
I love Scripture, for it contains guidelines for living, and
it tells me that going beyond full is not good for me. The medical industry agrees. Too much going beyond full can cause obesity;
medicine has published a long list of diseases/illnesses to which obesity can
contribute. Sometimes it’s hard not to
overeat; what I am eating may be delicious, or I may have been too hungry when
I began to eat and consequently overeat.
Jesus was fully divine and fully human. I seriously doubt He ever overate, but He
experienced all human feelings, so He understands when I goof up and
overeat. He just loves me and is right
beside me to pick me up and help me get back on track to take loving care of
this Temple God created and perhaps listen better to my appestat the next time
I eat.
Sharon Witty
No comments:
Post a Comment