I like to write out my thoughts before I type them. But when I use an old pen that rolls roughly across the paper, my thoughts thump along in fits and starts. When I can’t squeeze the ink out, I can’t squeeze the words out, and I quickly toss the pen aside for a better one. A free-flowing pen opens my mind, and the words often come pouring out as fast as I can write them.
I’m not surprised that the operation of my mind depends on the quality of my pen. I’m a physical being, so it’s natural for my body to have a direct line into my soul. Our bodies influence our spiritual lives in at least two ways:
1. Healthy bodies promote healthy souls. Paul was assuming the benefits of physical exercise when he told Timothy that spiritual training is even better. He recognized the importance of a healthy body and instructed Timothy “to drink a little wine for the sake of your stomach because you are sick so often” (1 Timothy 5:23). A healthy, fit body can help provide vigor and alertness as we strive to attain a more disciplined soul.
2. Body posture changes the posture of our souls. In C. S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters, a demon told his protégé that kneeling in prayer tends to bow the heart before God. The demon must persuade Christians “that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they constantly forget what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls.”
God gave us baptism so that our whole being could symbolically experience dying and rising with Christ. And He gave us the Lord’s Supper, where the bread and cup impress our hunger for Jesus deep into our souls. May these things that involve the use of our bodies help us stay spiritually strong.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Exodus 1:8–2:10
More:
Read Nehemiah 8:1-18 to learn how various physical acts contribute to worship.
Next:
How does a healthy body affect your faith? What postures or lack of discipline hinder your spiritual life?
Gary Shultz on January 31, 2015 at 7:23 am
You have me on this one. I’m not a writer, I have not been able to kneel for years and I never got some of the worship postures. I have nothing against people raising hands; however, there is debate to which way to raise your hands. One point I have only agreement with is health makes a difference. When I come out of the doctors office sometimes I hold the good report up, look toward heaven and say thank you Lord, this is from you. I don’t know how many good people are challenged because of health, but many have pain and illness as an added dimension to struggle with. May they experience a depth of soul and spirit from God as the body is failing and the Spirit is winning. Thanks…I like pencils, with erasers.
Mike Wittmer on January 31, 2015 at 9:46 am
Gary, God’s okay with you not kneeling for health reasons. I like it when my church says, “Whoever is able, would you please stand,” or “please kneel.” If your knees can’t take it, a bowed head, or whatever position encourages your relationship with God, is what you should do.
Winn Collier on February 1, 2015 at 7:19 am
We’ve been planning for two years now to walk through a season exploring the ‘postures of worship’ – I wish our church had kneelers. We do forget that we are bodily people. I think that our history of thinking of the body as bad or irrelevant has had disastrous consequences.