FROM THE PULPIT: NOURISH THE BODY SPIRITUALLY

Time is the single commodity which each of us are given an equal share each day. There are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in a day.

I once knew a man who tried to wean himself from the recommended eight hours of sleep per night. He deduced that three hours of sleep per night would allow him to spend an extra 35 hours per week attending to pastoral duties. In essence, he would gain almost a day and a half per week. That figures out to 75.833 days per year. Or, 10+ weeks (if my math is right).

In theory, this sounds feasible, reasonable and good. However, in practicality, it stinks! My friend spent two years weaning himself down to 3 hours per night. At the end of those two years he had major physical, psychological, and emotional problems. He was even known to doze off at meetings, and even behind the wheel of his car.

God has given us one body! With that body we are to love, serve, rest, "be fruitful and multiply", and etc. An unhealthy body cannot function as God intended. It must receive the proper amounts of nourishment, care, exercise, and rest.

The Bible tells us that the "body is the temple of the Holy Spirit." No temple is habitable when its structure (bones) seems to be decaying. It needs the right amount of nails (tendons, ligaments, muscle, and skin) to hold it together.

You have heard that a building which is not lived in will go down-hill faster. So-it-is with the human body.

We are told to "love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, BODY..." The only way to do that is to ask the greatest example of love (Jesus) to come into our hearts as Savior. Ask Him to become Lord of your mind. Then, serve Him with your whole body.

We spend millions of dollars each year on exercise equipment, health food, diet plans, and vacations. We believe each one is essential to our well-being.

Yet, we forget that the greatest need in our lives is Spiritual. We fail to maintain a proper diet of Scripture reading/study, and prayer. We forget that we have been commissioned (commanded) to "Go...into all the world... preaching the Gospel." We need this exercise to grow in Spiritual strength as God intends. We also fail to follow God's design of laboring six days and resting on the seventh. We end up doing laundry, working in the garden, mowing the yard, and etc. Jesus said, "come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together..."

Yes, we all have the same number of seconds, minutes, and hours in a day. But, God has said, "It is appointed unto man once to die..." Your day may be cut short. "Work while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work." After death---"...the judgment."