Pastor's Desk
May 28, 2006
LOVING THE LORD with all your strength implies serving God with your body. While our relationship with God appears to be primarily spiritual we recognize that we use our bodies to worship and serve him here on earth. When we receive Christ as Saviour and submit to him as our Lord and Master, our body in which we dwell, which is an outward expression of who we are, becomes employed in the service of our God. Here are some scriptures that express that: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) "Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness." (Romans 6:13) "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship." (Romans 12:1)
The body for the Christian believer “is not just a physical system but is inhabited by the real presence of Christ.” (Dallas Willard) What is required for the believer is to intentionally direct their body to serve God. When the spirit or heart of a person is renewed by the Holy Spirit, the rest of the person comes under the rule of the Spirit of Christ. Thoughts and emotions are directed to the obedience of Christ. In the same way, the body needs to be brought under the control of the regenerated believer rather than the body dictating its demands to the life of the person. For many people, their body is their master. This particularly expresses itself in the pleasure-seeking with which our culture is obsessed. When pleasure becomes an end in itself it leads to anarchy and destruction. The apostle Paul expressing his desire to serve people with the gospel in every possible way said, "I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified." (1 Corinthians 9:27 NASB)
Our bodies cannot be divorced from our spiritual lives. They are an integral part of who we are. We will do well to take care of them as good as we can but also acknowledge that our bodies should not be idolized. They are instruments with which we serve God. One day we will die unless the Lord returns. Either way we have the sure hope that our bodies will be transformed and we will love and serve him forever and more completely.
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Love the Lord your God
with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind
and with all your strength.
This page was last updated on Friday, May 26, 2006