Your body is the temple of the Lord

1 Corinthians 6:19 - "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you..."

This particular passage came to mind today while I was out getting some exercise; after being laid up in bed for a few days with a bout of flu.

I had taken a brisk walk for about 5 blocks and came to a road bridge spanning the railway; which I semi-jogged up and over. After some purchases at a bridge-side convenience store I embarked upon the walk back. I had no idea how much energy I had lost during my convalescence, and found it hard to catch my breathe, returning homeward over the bridge - it was then that the above Bible passage sprung into my head.

How good it is to be a temple of the Lord... I thought.

Now, I can jump higher than a temple; temples can't jump! But also a temple just has to stand there and house the people of God; and at times most of them even let Him in...? And I thought how nice it is to be a temple and not to have to keep relatively fit (semi-jog over bridges, etc) and not gasp for air to fill its starved lungs...

And then it struck me how flawed this thinking was, how necessary it is to keep the 'temple' fit and clean; for that is how we honour our Father and His dwelling.

I need to exercise more and get fitter; but I realise, in these early stages, I probably would be wise to have an attending medic at hand (lol)! I also think it would be unfair to expect the medic to follow me in the open, lugging his equipment along; so I'd better get that gym membership I have so long been dragging my feet on.

Oh, incidentally, after my 'bridge' revelation, the rest of the walk back home was somehow miraculously much easier - the lungs had new capacity and I arrived home refreshed! - Isn't God amazing!

~ SB