My, Devotion to Him #32
Get ready… Get set… Go! Bang! “Ladies and gentleman they are off. The race we’ve been waiting to see! Oh my look at #2 he’s in it to win it, he’s going as fast as he can. Oh no! #7 has fallen down and can’t seem to get up. Oh look over there folks #5 has fallen asleep. Look at #4 he’s catching up to #2. They are going toe to toe. I don’t know about you all but it’s amazing to see #1 so far behind! He was awarded last year with an Iron Man Trophy. He’s been training all his life for this race. Oh wow! Number #2 has stopped and is talking with a group of people. If he doesn’t pay attention this race will be over before he knows it. There it is folks! Number #4 GOING ALL THE WAY! I can’t believe this! It’s amazing! You can tell he’s not the type to go running races everyday. Wow! I can’t believe what I’m seeing. He’s done it. It’s over everyone! Number #4 has finished this race. Wow! Well ladies and gentleman it’s been a great race. People fought hard but as we’ve seen this race is a tough one. People fall and get hurt, other fall asleep, and get distracted, only the ones who are focused will stay in and finish this race. Have a great life everyone.”
VERSE PASSAGE: Matthew 5:29-30 “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” – NIV
Oh gosh! Jesus advocating for us to dismember our bodies? Actually He is drawing on the universal drive within every person of self preservation to make a point.
People have always had a value of their bodies. Even the most unhealthiest person. If they went to the doctors and the doctors said your leg is infected so much that it will kill you we need to take it off. I believe that they would have it removed. Why? Because even in our unhealthy state we continue to have some kind of value for our bodies. We may choose to hurt it but the moment it’s recommended to remove a part to keep us living and to save the rest of the body we do it.
It is known that since the fall of Adam and Eve, man’s priorities have been misplaced and misguided. We spend so much effort in preserving our physical life. Companies have spent billions on ads to compel us to take care of our body. Doctors and scientist continue to advocate and stress the importance of being healthy. We continue to try the newest diets, the latest fads going around. We stress if we gain a pound or can’t lose the weight we want. We continue to tell ourselves we are going to try and lose weight, cut back on this and that. We continue to make effort to eat better either in a small or big way. We make decisions like not drinking soda anymore or cutting down on the amount. Why? Because we want to preserve our life. We want to live longer, better, be able to do things. It all boils down to two things “we want to live” and “we want to have a certain image”.
We need to understand what Christ is saying here. It is better for us to cut off a member of our body that causes us to stumble than for our whole body to be punished and thrown into hell. We need to remove the things in our life that is allowing our spiritual bodies to become dry and die.
The saddest thing I see in America is people are so worried about their physical bodies but yet they are spiritually malnourished or spiritual obese either one is bad and unhealthy. God has not called us to starve our spirits, nor did He call us to become fat in the word and that’s it. See people have this perception that people who are spiritually fat in the word are people who we need to follow after. However this is wrong. Those who are obese in the word are nothing more than unhealthy people.
Our spiritual condition is often overlooked many times. It is constantly getting put on the “back burner” while we tend to more urgent matters of this life like trying to lose weight and making sure we find the time to get the gym. We make the time to go to the gym but yet we hardly access the spiritual gym. We go once a week for maybe an hour and that’s it. The funny thing about that is people who go the gym tend to slowly do more. Why? To help build muscle. You don’t keep doing the same thing the rest of your life. Why? Because your muscles won’t grow. Your muscles are not getting pushed to its limits in which forces its self to grow. Yet, most people in the church today or proclaimed Christians. Hardly push their spiritual bodies to its limits. We come and do the same thing over and over and over again and again in the church. Our spiritual bodies become content and the muscle doesn’t grow.
Our physical bodies are just temporary! If we live 70-80 years or more, that is just a fraction of a second in the light of eternity. Our spiritual man lives forever. The state in which it exists is determined by choices made in this life. Remember one day to us is 1,000 to God. The life we live wouldn’t even amount to one day with God. Yet, our spirit will reside with Him forever and we allow ourselves to become spiritual unfit. Do we not realize the spirit will remain forever even after this world is gone?
Therefore, choose to make your spiritual condition your top priority. Spend more time on your spiritual well being than you do your physical well being. You and everyone around you will be eternally grateful that you did.
NOTES:
1. Remove the areas in your life that are distracting you from maintaining a spiritually fit body.
2. We need to spend as much effort and more on making sure we have a spiritual fit body.
3. Spiritual workout: Studying Gods word, applying Gods word in our life, using our faith.
4. Spiritual routine exercises: Attending Church, reading daily devotionals, reading His word, prayer.
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Copyright © 2017 by Jacob D. Olinger
Spirit Warrior Ministry 