Your body belongs to Jesus

Good morning, everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Live long and prosper”

Our Bible verse for today: “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “Your body belongs to Jesus”

Throughout this month of considering how we can live long and prosper, I will draw upon the research of Dr. Peter Attia, as published in his great book, “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity.” Now, to be clear, “Outlive” is not a Christian book, it is a science book. Over the span of decades, Dr. Attia conducted extensive research into the top four leading causes of death in America: heart disease, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer’s), and type 2 diabetes and related metabolic dysfunction.

Rather than focusing his research on treating those diseases in the short-term (once they have been diagnosed), his focus was on long-term interventions that can help to prevent the diseases from developing to begin with. He does include helpful insights regarding actions that can be taken to mitigate the effects of those diseases once they exist in a body, but the primary focus of his research and of his book is prevention.

Although not intentionally Biblical in itself, Dr. Attia’s research lends itself nicely to the Apostle Paul’s lesson in 1 Corinthians 6:19. As a matter of good stewardship, we have a Biblical responsibility to take proper care of our physical body. For one thing, your physical body is the temple of God’s Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives within your heart and that makes your physical body a walking, talking, mobile temple of God’s Holy Spirit. You would never defile the church building, would you? Then why would you defile your physical body – the temple of the Holy Spirit?

Paul goes on in that passage to say that “You are not your own, for you were bought at a price.” In other words, your physical body does not belong to you, it belongs to Jesus. He purchased it to be used for His purposes. On the cross not only did He purchase your eternal soul with the shedding of His blood, but He purchased your physical body to be used as a walking, talking, mobile temple of His Holy Spirit. Therefore, it doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to Him and you have a stewardship responsibility to take proper care of it for Him so that it will be available Jesus to use for His desired purposes. The better condition your physical body is in, the more Jesus can do with it. The worse condition your body is in, the less useful it is to Jesus.

Of course, as we age, our physical body deteriorates. Jesus knows this. He designed that body. But our responsibility is to stay as healthy as we can for as long as we can. This requires intentionality and discipline on our parts, and it is what we will spend the rest of the month considering.

God expects you to take good care of yourself. Your physical body belongs to Jesus not to you.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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