Today I'd like to borrow a post from one of my other blogs. (Is it really borrowing if it's my article from my blog? Hmm.) As I'm sure you've noticed, I've been on a bit of a kick lately about making some much-needed changes in my life. God has brought some things to my attention, and I know I won't be at peace until I get things right. A few weeks ago, I posted the following on my healthy living blog, Satisfying the Spirit, and today I felt led to share it with you. Maybe someone out there needs to read this, or maybe I just needed the reminder. Either way, be prepared, for what I have to say is quite convicting.
And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee
hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it. And they come to
Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them
that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the
moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; And would not
suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And he
taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of
all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. -
Mark 11:14-17
Never in the Bible do we see Jesus as angry as He is at this defilement
of the temple. Not when people scorned Him. Not when the Pharisees
tried to kill Him. Not when His disciples doubted Him. Not even at the
cross. This picture of Jesus is unlike anything else we see about
Jesus in the Bible. The situation in the temple angered Jesus to the
point that He overturned tables and according to another account in the
Bible, He even fashioned a whip and chased the moneychangers out of the
temple. So why was He so upset? What was the big deal? He answers that
question clearly in verse 17 of the passage above: Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
These men had turned God's house into a money-making scheme. They had
defiled the temple with their wicked ways and mocked God in the
process. The temple was supposed to be a sacred place, a holy place.
Jesus did not take kindly to their mistreatment of His Father's house.
The Bible tells us in no uncertain terms that our bodies are the temples
of the Holy Ghost. They were intended to be vessels of honor. They
were intended for God's use. So how do you think He feels about our
treating our bodies (His temple) like garbage cans? Just like the
passage above, we have turned God's temple into a den of thieves. We
allow thieves in the forms of processed foods, sugars and caffeine to
rob us of energy, vitality and health. We consume things we know to be
bad because we want them or enjoy them. Then we wonder why we never
feel good, are always tired and suffer from a growing number of
ailments.
We have control over what goes into our bodies even though these bodies
don't belong to us. We are not our own. We are borrowing these
bodies. They belong to God. Do you think He's pleased with the care
we've been giving them? Or do you think He is angered by our lack of
self-control and concern for His temple? We are poisoning
ourselves--killing our bodies slowly. We are defiling God's temple, and
the worst part of all is that we don't seem to care. We laugh about
the extra weight we're carrying around or cry about how bad we feel, but
until we care enough to do something about it, nothing will change.
I don't know about you, but I'm ashamed of the state of my body. I've
not taken care of it the way I know I should. I've given in to the
pleasures of food and the delight of comfort over exercise, and in the
process, I've allowed my health to deteriorate. Now, more than ever, I
want to serve God, but because of the neglect of my health, I am now
limited by it. And until I get things under control, I will never be
able to serve God the way He intends for me to.
The journey ahead is long, and the road is rough, but I've resolved to
stop defiling God's temple. And beyond that, I've begun a rebuilding
program that consists of a healthy diet and proper exercise. I don't
want God to be angry with me. I don't want to be ashamed when I stand
before Him and have nothing to offer but excuses. I want to serve with
my full potential, and I can't do that in this state. It's time for a
change! Who's with me?
2 comments:
Such a great post, Dana! We do dismiss/ignore the fact that we belong to the Lord as vessels for His presence. I've already begun to do better, changing the physical because I didn't realize I was doing something wrong. Thanks so much for this. Bless you!
Thanks for your comment, Lynn. I had no idea how dependent I had become on food until the Lord opened my eyes. I'm a little overweight but not in the extreme, so I totally overlooked the fact that I had a serious issue--my life revolved around food. The Lord's been dealing with me a lot and helping me to get my focus back on Him where it should be, but I'll tell you, it hasn't been easy.
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