If there is one thing I struggle most with, it’s my body. I’ve never been huge, but I have been way out of shape and know how that feels, and have been fit, and I like that a lot more. But it’s so hard to get there, and so hard to stay there. I remember taking a break from my routine that lasted for years. I didn’t mean it to. Was just going to take a few days off. Problems got in the way and I suddenly found staying fit was like number 9 on my list of priorities. I’m happy to say I’m back in the game of keeping my body in the best shape I can.

Today isn’t about diets, or workouts, or living a better life. It’s about God.

When I read the Bible, I find that I’m created in this physical form by God and for God. And what He wants from me is to point everything I do back to Him. So it came as no surprise when I read in I Corinthians 6:19 that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. I’ve read that passage of scripture like a gazillion times. What was an eye opener to me was to read what was meant by the word temple.

In this book, Corinthians, Paul is writing to the Christians in this new church, giving them wisdom that they obviously needed. He talks to them in verse 12 about not letting yourself become mastered by things that aren’t beneficial. The word he uses is slave. Man, I know there are a few things that I struggle to not be a slave to. My work, is one.

And then Paul goes on to talk about the body. He says the body wasn’t created by God for sexual immorality. And if you do any reading, you know Paul teaches that anything outside of marriage is outside the will of God. I know how slippery the slope gets and I’m not sure why God designed it this way. I suppose to give us choices. Paul says to flee the situation.

If I sit and think about it, I know I have a lot to lose. Maybe that’s what Paul is talking about.

So what does Paul mean when he says our body IS the temple? I pick my Bible up all the time and lay down to read it, or read it on the couch. I hate my reading glasses, but boy the words sure look sharper and it is easier. But a lot of times I read and think, wow – that was a cool story… and I think I miss out on what God is trying to say. Ha, that’s just it. What “is” God trying to say when you read some of those Old Testament stories that are so strange you wonder if you’re on the same Earth they were?

Temple. In I Chronicles 29, King David gathers offerings to build the Temple. And I read through the verse, David’s prayer, and see that they held nothing back because God was coming (to the Temple.) His son, Solomon, was the one that built the Temple and in II Chronicles 7 it was dedicated. The glory of the Lord filled the Temple. And I thought it was so cool what the people did. They knelt down and responded by worshiping Him. But it also made me feel guilty.

What God is saying, I believe, is that where He resides is a place that demands care, respect, and worship. Yet, I find myself casually strolling through life with my body the Temple. And deep inside I know I can’t do what He requires by myself. I can’t. But I look back in Corinthians and see Paul addresses this in verse 19. I don’t belong to me, anyway.

Is it a different God today than the one in Chronicles? That should have huge ramifications in my decisions, no?

When I began to jog, I remember a little thing I used to do to get through the times when my legs were aching and it seemed like I couldn’t breathe. I used to take my right hand and tap my chest as I ran and said I’m doing this for me!

I look back at that and see how vain that is. I am pretty vain overall. I fight that. I wasn’t created that way. God created me for Him. When people look at me, they shouldn’t see a cool Dave Jackson. They should see God.

It sounds like a hard road to follow, God. But, I’ve found out that it’s a much harder road making my own choices and going my own way.

Finally, I never understood until yesterday what blameless before God meant. Here I am thinking blameless meant sinless. And it doesn’t mean that at all. Blameless is honesty. Living a blameless life is really – life! Everything else is a cheap imitation.

I know I don’t do this very well, but I’m here on Earth to bring glory to God. To maximize my impact for the Kingdom. And I’ve found that there is no power in a compromised life. I’m just fooling myself to think so.

Freedom is living a blameless life before God.

My body is a gift. I have to guard that. I have to do all I can to stop being obsessed with satisfying my cravings in life. That isn’t what it’s about. John Piper said it best, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”