The Week magazine features a “What’s Next?” column based on current events. In a recent issue they asked readers to submit answers to a question based on this comment from chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain: “Your body is not a temple, it’s an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.” The question was: “What would be a good name for a theme park ride based on the typical American’s body?”
Here were some of the best answers: Cholester-Roll, Plumper Cars, Tunnel of Love Handles, The Tragic Kingdom, and SORRY—ride closed due to poor maintenance. Though funny, these answers focus on the fact that many people in the US—as well as around the world—are poor stewards of their bodies.
The Bible, however, clearly calls us to honor God with our bodies. One primary reason is because He made them. He formed Adam from the “dust of the ground” and made him a “marvelous” living person (Genesis 2:7; Psalm 139:14). God’s creation of this first man established Him as the owner of Adam’s body as well as ours. And so He set the rules for the way Adam and subsequent generations should care for and use them.
Another reason to honor God with our bodies is because of the high price Jesus paid for our lives. He died, giving His body for the salvation of our whole person—including the physical part. We’re not our own; all that we are belongs to God.
Finally, since our bodies are the “temple of the Holy Spirit,” we’re obligated to use them to honor God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). This includes cleansing ourselves from everything that makes our bodies impure, devoting them completely to God to be used for what is good and right, and training them to do what they should—bring honor and worship to Him (Romans 12:1).
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Luke 11:1-13
More:
Read Matthew 6:25-32 and see what Jesus says about how we should care for our bodies.
Next:
On a scale of 1-10, how well do you honor God with your body? What are some things you should stop and start doing to better honor Him with it?
jef on August 2, 2016 at 5:55 am
Bwana Asifiwe! Marvin, In the natural world we seldom ignore the instructor’s manual for obvious reasons. Our fallen state beguiles us that we can somehow cheat/circumvent our ways past the spiritual laws and get away with it. Then there’s this false notion we can party hop in our youthful years and surrender ourselves for Kingdom sake when we’re old and grey. This ‘trade off’ often proves worthless as Judas’ thirty pieces of silver unless a touch of grace is involved.
philipforchrist on August 2, 2016 at 6:17 am
Yes, Jef! it is by God’s grace and fortunately God’s grace abounds for us as christian. You know the devil has been using the same tactic. The same deception he used for Adam and Eve, but Jesus turned him to a failure once and for all. As you said, most teenagers are filled with the ‘false notion to party hop in our youthful years and surrender ourselves for Kingdom sake’ later and it is from the devil. This message of honouring God with our bodies, and all we have got should be preached prayerfully, aggressively, and systematically by christians. God Himself would minister to people’s minds through His Spirit. Amen
philipforchrist on August 2, 2016 at 5:57 am
I concur with your wonderful submissions abour our bodies here, Pastor Mavin! Yes, God owns us!! And we must glorify Him with our bodies!!! Why? Because He created us, and gave us LIFE. God is our great shepherd, a very caring and loving father. As Christians, we know we cannot afford to reason like the world (1 John 2 vs 15-17). However, we cannot pretend not to know that the world tries very hard to sway us from being who God wants us to be through the razzmatazz of diifferent campaigns from several media, and it is sad that we get swayed a lot, especially we the youths. As christians, it is sacrosanct that we honour God with our bodies by putting a stop to things that do not honour God and start doing others to better honour Him. I pray that God’s grace shall be sufficient for us all. Amen. Thanks, Pastor mavin Williams for sharing!
Gary Shultz on August 2, 2016 at 6:18 am
Hi Marvin, it looks like your subject is already gathering steam. I’m with you, I think we need to review how we treat or mistreat the body. In saying that, I also would draw some realism to the whole arena of physical fitness and health. Just like keeping our spiritual bodies fit, which is of greater value, we need to work on healthy habits for the bod. Christ said what goes in to the body does not make it unclean; however, continual poor habits can make it unhealthy. Like the spiritual self we have the ability to improve and live in healthier habits, will we? Do we really believe enough to actually put an action plan into practice. Will we ever look like the youths of the day, I don’t think so, but by God’s grace we can live healthier, more active, and honoring lives for the most part. Thanks Marvin, no more Twinkies.
gagirllive on August 2, 2016 at 7:46 am
Seems like we swing from one end to the other on this matter, Marvin. The pendulum of body care is a hot topic these days. As a woman, I find it particularly frustrating to keep the focus on my health rather than my size. I mostly eat healthy, unprocessed foods, and I walk 4 miles just about everyday. I’m not obsessive, just intentional. It works for me, as I am in my fifties and take no medications…praise God! However, I do know Christians who go to the extreme with diet and exercise as well as those who totally disregard caring for their physical bodies—both under the guise of being more “spiritual”. In Genesis we have the beautiful account of our Maker creating us—body, soul, and spirit for Himself—for His glory, not ours. Yet here we are making it all about us, aren’t we? Why? Because we lost that holy relationship through the Fall, but through the second Adam, Christ, we have redemption and reconciliation as we await the full redemption of our bodies. One day we will trade these bodies for a glorious and imperishable one like our Lord’s. Hallelujah! I look forward to that. But in the meantime, I’ll do my best to keep a healthy and clean house that He can use for His glory. (Chocolate is a health food, right?) 🙂 Thanks, Marvin.
sandy229 on August 2, 2016 at 10:50 am
Yes, chocolate is a health food, you must have it every day…….. 🙂
gagirllive on August 2, 2016 at 10:54 am
Hee-hee…glad to know that! 🙂
jesusking32597 on August 2, 2016 at 7:50 am
Approximately two weeks ago, I stopped eat processed food and drinking soda. These things were not helping me to honour my temple. I made a promise to God and my parents that I would only eat whole foods and drink water and other sugar/calorie free beverages. After doing so for a little under two weeks, I feel much better and my health is greatly improving!
gagirllive on August 2, 2016 at 7:54 am
Way to go, jesusking32597! Whole foods—that’s real food that actually fuels the body. Keep up the good work!
youssef1777 on August 2, 2016 at 9:33 am
THE LORD TRUST IN TO TAKE OF OUR BODIES . LET US KEEP IT HEALTHY BY NOT SMOKE OR ABUSE IT WITH ANY NOTHING . THAT WILL KEEP IT IN PERFECT SHAPE . EAT THE HEALTHY FOOD AND EXERCISE BY WALKING OR ANY OTHER FEED THE BODY . PRAYING AND READING THE BIBLE . ALL THESE WILL KEEP OUR BODY HAPPY . GOD BLESS ALL .
godlove on August 2, 2016 at 10:09 am
Marvin, the passage from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says it all for me. One of the very few accounts of Jesus actually expressing anger was when He found people desecrating the Temple (Matthew 21:12-13). Much more reason for us to honour our bodies, temple of the Holy Spirit, so wonderfully created by God in His own image. By taking good care of the body we are clearly honouring God and His work. However, like gagirllive said, it’s important to be careful not to cross the line (like many do, sadly) where “taking good care” becomes “worshipping the body”, where we seek glory for ourselves with the body, rather than glorifying the Creator. Thank you for the reminder, Marvin.
sandy229 on August 2, 2016 at 10:59 am
Thank you for this devotional Marvin, one of the verses I memorized when I was younger was,
Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
I have no choice but to eat healthy since I got home from the hospital. I used to be addicted to Starbucks but now that I can’t have any coffee, I kinda had to give that up. I only miss my morning coffee my husband makes every day with fresh ground beans. I don’t even want Starbucks anymore. I used to be a cookie monster too, now I don’t eat cookies anymore.
gagirllive on August 2, 2016 at 11:08 am
You know what they say about that verse, Sandy? The problem with being a living sacrifice is that we have the tendency to crawl off the altar. 🙂 Sorry you’ve had to give up two of your favorite things, but we need you to stick around with us, sis!
sandy229 on August 2, 2016 at 11:38 am
Yes that’s very true because we’re not perfect and when we try to be, sometimes pride gets in the way. Thank you for your kind words.
hsnpoor on August 2, 2016 at 10:02 pm
Aww, I was gonna share that one, GG! I’m late to the table today…. I was medication free too until Sept. of last year when I was diagnosed with HBP. That’s under control with minimal fuss, but after the TIA I now have to take Lipitor & an aspirin tablet. I hate not being medication free, but 3 pills a day is not so bad (actually 4 with my multi-vitamin) for a 62-year old woman. I walk every day too (not 4-miles, though) and the doctors said I needed to add strength training to my daily regimen. So, one of my doggies is 10-lbs and when we get in from our evening walk, I use her as a 10-lb weight to do arm lifts, lunges and crunches. She was totally bewildered when I started that (wish y’all could have seen her face), but now she loves it! She’s a good accountability partner too, because she will dog my steps until I stop and exercise with her. My Corker (cocker-corgi mix) just looks at us both like we’ve lost it. He’s fat; we’re not…:).
gagirllive on August 3, 2016 at 8:52 am
What a fun way to work out with your doggie, Kim! Keep up the good work!
sandy229 on August 3, 2016 at 9:16 am
that really sounds fun. It does seem like a good way to work out.
crossman61 on August 2, 2016 at 12:23 pm
Thank you Marvin for this devotional . I go along with Sandy on Romans 12 Our true act of Worship . I am also sorry you had to give up a couple of things , especially coffee !! That’s a tough one for me . I do try to take care of this body , exercise , and do my best to eat healthy . In the past I have said to a few I know that preaching healthy eating , exercise , is about as hard as preaching Gods Word, depending how palatable we present it . If it tastes good then there is a chance it could be bad for us , Just as Gods Word doesn’t taste good , chances are in the long run it can be good for us . depending how deep we dig our teeth into the Word . I try to take a shot of Braggs apple cider vinegar daily . There is something about the apple , I think God intended for us to consume ? was the fruit of the tree really an apple that Adam and Eve ate ? Is that why man has an Adams apple , He choked on it ? To me this does not taste good at all , and its hard for me to digest . But I firmly believe it can benefit our bodies in more ways than one . I like the scripture it has on the side of the bottle 3 John 2, I used to drink it straight now I dilute it with water , it makes it more palatable , drink up friends and live long . Gary
hsnpoor on August 3, 2016 at 12:24 pm
I don’t know that God’s Word doesn’t taste good, so much as it’s offensive to the natural man. But to the converted man, God’s word is better than the sweetest of honey and far more nourishing than Bragg’s vinegar (yeah, I’ve been known to take a swig or 2 of that awful stuff too; but I far prefer Paul’s advice to Timothy about taking a little wine for what ails you—-yeah, I said it…:). L’chaim, Gary and everyone!
crossman61 on August 3, 2016 at 1:04 pm
You are right Kim Gods Word doesn’t taste good to the natural man , And to the converted it does taste good. Paul does recommend a little wine is good. L’chaim 🙂