Refining My Temple

The Lord has laid on my heart a new challenge. I feel strongly that God wants me to make my body a temple truly worthy of His presence. 1Corinthians 6: 19-20 says, "¹⁹ Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." I read these words and I realize that I am not completely honoring the Lord with my body. I do not exercise in any way, shape or form. As a matter of fact, I absolutely hate exercising. The thought of it makes me feel nauseated. But the Lord has given me a very strong feeling that to please Him, I must strengthen and exercise my body as well as my soul.

I started to feel God prompting me to exercise this weekend when we spent some time with my brother and his family. My brother is very physically fit. He exercises regularly and really watches what he eats. I admire him and his perseverance. He even participates in half-marathons and triathlons to raise money for cancer research. I have to admit that I feel like a total slob around him. Don't get me wrong, I am not by any means overweight. I still wear the same size clothing that I wore in high school. But I'm not at all in shape. Sometimes I get a bit winded if I run up our stairs too fast. And I have some flab now that I never had before.

Now listen to this story. I decided that I needed some new athletic shoes because I have had mine for almost 3 years now and they are really starting to hurt my feet. So while we were in Columbus visiting my brother, I looked for shoes. I had narrowed my shoe selection down to two: moderately expensive and really expensive. The sales associate brought the selections in my size. As I was trying on the first pair, he asked me, "Do you want these shoes to workout in?" I just looked at him, dumbfounded. I really didn't know what to say. Well, my husband took my awkward silence as a clue for him to speak for me. "She just wants them to be lazy in." he said. I was embarrassed and horrified! I couldn't believe that those words just came out of my husband's mouth! (I mean, they were true since I don't ever exercise, but really?) The salesman just looked at me and said, "OK. I've never had a pair of lazy shoes before." I wanted to crawl under the bench on which I was sitting. Oh well, at least I will most likely never see that man again in my life. This encounter only added to my sense of need to exercise.

I'm sure that this beautiful and unusually warm weather has also played a part in my overwhelming desire to become physically fit (as well as my realization that I may have to wear a swimsuit in the very near future.) This morning I donned my brand new pair of athletic shoes and listened to my worship playlist as I jogged for thirty minutes. (OK, I walked some.) My new shoes had so much support that I felt as if I was running on a cloud. The sun shone brightly on me and the air smelled fresh and new. I actually enjoyed it! I had to stop mid-jog to check on the cows (Ryan's 4-H projects.) I labored over carrying buckets of water to them (which they drank none of!) As I was filling the bucket with water, I was sure that I could hear a faint rustling sound in the little water shed that I was standing by. I convinced myself that the rustling sound was a rat or mouse that would soon leap out to bite me. Thankfully, that didn't happen. As I bent over to transfer the water from the bucket to the water pan, Rascal the steer tried to eat a portion of my hair. Yuck! As I grabbed the feed pans from their pen, I got a questionable brown substance on my hands. The smell test confirmed that yes, it was poop. Ugghh! Anyway, I continued with the rest of my run. I have washed my hands three times now and they still smell like poop.

So, my plan right now is to try to do cardio exercise 90 minutes a week and resistance training for at least 45 minutes a week. We will see how it goes. I feel good to at least have a clear new plan. I"m so glad that God helps us through every trial because I certainly cannot do this without Him. These are the words the Lord gave me this morning:

You are right, my child, to honor Me with your body - with what you put into your body as well as what comes out. You know what foods are good and wholesome to nourish and strengthen your body. You also know that you must honor Me with the words that come out of your mouth. You must speak only words that are pleasing to Me that can be used to build others up. Do not judge or criticize others or you, too will be judged and criticized by Me. Exercise you body, mind and spirit, for what is one without the other? Continue to draw close to Me spiritually as you start this journey to strengthen your body, for you must seek Me in every venture.

Romans 12:1
 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Well, I have to go now. I obviously need to shower. I put this challenge out there for you as well. Who will join me in this challenge to refine our earthly temples?