When I was younger, caring for my body was utilitarian in nature, serving one primary purpose: to make myself look beautiful.
I cringe inside after typing that sentence because it’s SO myopic & gushing over with self-centeredness. 😑
I realize there’s nothing wrong with wanting to feel beautiful, but the Lord’s led me to a place where beauty is no longer the main thing, but a potential byproduct when we care for our bodies as His residing temple.
As I read about King Solomon’s dedication of the newly built Temple of God, I can’t help but consider the deeper implication of it all.
The King made sure that every single detail was attended to with the greatest intention, intricacy & care, so that every single aspect would be used to worship The Worthy One!
On dedication day, the people make so many sacrifices that they can’t even keep count! They have trumpets & singers & cymbals, oh my, as they give thanks to the Lord.
At the very moment they declare, “He is good! His faithful love endures forever!”, a cloud SO THICK fills the Temple, that the priests can’t continue their service, for the glorious presence of God fills the entire place!
The Temple was built with one single- minded pursuit: to honor the name of the Lord!
And now, you & me? We ARE that temple! Our bodies house the residing Presence of the Holy Spirit!
When you consider Who resides within, it gives cause to pause so questions may rise about what happens TO our temple & what comes INTO our temple.
If our bodies are a place to honor His name, then everything we permit it to:
See or not see
Hear or not hear
Think or not think
Do or not do
Eat or not eat
Drink or not drink
ALL become a spiritual act of worship!
And heres the kicker👉🏽It’s either a worship of self or The One Worthy of worship!
Ouch, right?😳
What if we approached all decisions through this constant reminder of Whom we carry?
How might our diet change? Our physical activities? Our speech? Our leisure time?
When we fully comprehend that we’ve been given a spiritual Maserati for a body, then how we fuel & care for it & where we drive it take on a whole new meaning…especially when we remember Who we’re called to carry!
2 CHRONICLES 4:1-6:11
ROMANS 7:1-13
PSALM 17:1-15
PROVERBS 19:22-23
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