12/05/2017
Do you have your body under control? Have you let yourself separate your spirituality of nature from the physical manifestation of that faith within your body itself? By this I am not asking if you treat yourself as a narcissist, but do you do those things that are godly and good with yourself, and treat your body as a temple of God? Our spiritual and physical beings walk hand in hand in our faith, and in our bodies we find the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Romans 12:1 ESV
There is a big difference between worshiping our bodies, and worshiping with our bodies... or rather from within our bodies. Don’t mistake how you look with the holiness of the place, but instead pay attention to what transpires within the temple.
During World War II the Jews in Europe were systematically rounded up by the Nazis and placed into concentration camps. From these camps they were sent out in work parties and further mistreated in horrific ways. They were starved and demeaned in ways that would shock the most hardened of people, but in the dark recesses of underground holding cells and in overcrowded barracks, something amazing happened... their faith lived on, and the Jewish law as it pertained to their bodies survived.
Although nothing but skin and bones, although physically and sexually abused, although branded, although beaten and killed, and despite being tattooed with numbers, and stripped naked before the world... they maintained the holiness of their bodies as best they could. So in these crowded shacks, and holes in the ground temples remained, and they were holy. When no other semblance of their faith could be maintained they retreated into the holy space within themselves. This is how we as Christians are told to consider our bodies... the most holy of temples... the place of worship that can’t be taken from us. We are living sacrifices, holy and acceptable before God, and He has declared us to be temples.
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV
Christians have been imprisoned as well, and yet prayers, softly sung hymns, and makeshift communion was offered by the saints who were confined in those cells. Today, these prison cells are holy places; not because they were consecrated, or anointed and declared to be sacred by the church, but because they housed and witnessed the holy focal point of a faith... they contained the souls of the righteous. Despite the fact that many of these places are now dilapidated and have been abandoned, they are still venerated. People visit them and are moved by what they feel there; flowers are laid on the ground, and prayers are offered up. Consider the Colosseum in Rome, the cave in which the Apostle Paul was imprisoned, the cave on the Isle of Patmos where John was banished, and so many other places through the ages, and around the world. These are not beautiful to the eye, but are beyond beautiful to the spirit.
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,”
Acts 16:25 ESV
Our bodies are our temple; treat yourself as such. It doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside. It doesn’t matter what your body has been used for in the past. What matters is that today, right now, it houses the most precious thing in all of Christianity... your soul, your spirit, and the Holy Spirit that is in communion with them. You have become the Temple of God.
“But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."”
1 Samuel 16:7 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to reside within me, and for making me Holy in your eyes. I thank you for salvaging this body that I have often mistreated, and for making it pure through the redemption of Jesus Christ your Son. Help me Holy Father to keep this Vessel, your temple, holy and worthy of your inhabitance. As I go through my days, guide me in the liturgy of my internal faith as I worship you from within myself... all prayer I speak, all praise I sing, all worship I perform begins here within this body and mind. From this unassuming and often crippled shell I emit the love and unbridled faith I have in you. Make me blind to what man sees when he looks at me, and give me the vision and confidence that you have in me. Help me Father to banish the ugliness of all evil and sin from this temple, and build an altar within me that is glorious and beautiful in your eyes. Take me Father in all of my physical shortcomings, and lead me as I raise the walls of your holy temple within myself, and do those things with my body and mind that bring glory to you.
Rich Forbes