Embracing God’s Best for Your Body
By Rick Warren
“Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him” (Romans 12:1 MSG).
Taking care of your body is a spiritual discipline, like prayer, worship, or Bible study. God wants you to succeed at this in 2016.
The apostle Paul says, with God helping you, “Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering” (Romans 12:1 MSG).
When you take care of your body, you worship God. And it’s never too late to start this important journey in your life.
Before you ever start your journey of getting healthy, you need to realize that it’s a step of faith. Like Peter stepping out of the boat, every step you take toward better health increases your trust in God. Every step helps you expect the best from him. The same verse also says, “Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.”
The Bible embraces three incredibly important truths about the journey of getting healthy. Grasping these truths before you begin will change everything about the journey before you.
God made your body. Psalm 139:13 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (NIV). Physical health is as much about stewardship as where you give your resources.
Jesus paid for your body. The Bible says, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT, second edition). On the cross, Jesus paid not just for your soul but also your body. You honor God when you take care of your body.
The Holy Spirit lives in your body. If you’re a Christian, the Bible says your body is God’s temple and that the Holy Spirit lives in you (1 Corinthians 3:16). Good health is one way you take care of God’s temple. You’d never let your church building get into poor shape, and God wants you to think of your body in the same way.
When you fully embrace these truths from God’s Word about your body, you’re ready for your body’s brand new 2016. Knowing the truth about your body makes acting on that truth a step of faith. It means you’re no longer getting healthy just to live a few more years, fit into a particular item of clothing in your closet, or look more physically attractive. You’re getting healthy as a way to worship God.
That’s a terrific and empowering reason to get healthy in 2016.
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Talk It Over
- Which of the three truths about the body discussed in this devotional do you think would empower you the most in your journey to health? Why?
- How is getting healthy a spiritual discipline?
- What step will you take today to become healthier?
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This devotional © 2016 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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