Note: This is the fifth article in a series entitled “The Five Investments.” Previous articles are always available at http://www.webbweekly.com.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31.
Strength can refer to heart, soul, and mind. Each of these can and should be strong. For the purposes of this series, we will presume that Jesus was referring to physical strength — to the amazing body God has invested in us and its awesome design and abilities.
The human body is truly extraordinary. Consider the wonder known as the opposable thumb. Very few animals have an opposable thumb, and we humans are the only critters with a thumb that can oppose each finger — even the pinky. See how amazing you are?
The systems of the human body are a wonder to behold — Nervous, Respiratory, Cardiovascular, Digestive, Immune, Reproductive, Lymphatic, Musculoskeletal, Endocrine, Urinary, and Integumentary — and they all work together to provide the body with healthy equilibrium (homeostasis) and protection so it can function productively.
Tool: Consider for a moment the amazing and vital purposes God has intended for your body. Not only is it the tool that serves your own needs, but it is also a tool for honoring God, for loving and serving others, for declaring the good news of Jesus Christ, and for creating new life — an amazing tool indeed!
Temple: The most extraordinary fact about the human body is that it serves as the temple of God’s Spirit, bought and paid for with the blood of Jesus Christ. God doesn’t live in our church buildings. He is only there when we take Him there. God lives in us — a temple of His own making. That’s what your body is!
Temptation: God created the body with good, holy and necessary drives. The very first command given to Adam and Eve was to be fruitful and multiply. To make sure we would obey, God placed a strong reproductive drive within us. He knew we needed to eat, so He placed a strong hunger drive within us. He knew we needed to work, so He placed a strong productivity drive within us. He knew we needed to love others, so He placed a strong serving drive within us.
These drives are powerful, but as we acknowledged last week, power can be utilized for good or evil. The very drives God gave us for holy and healthy purposes can also be used for evil and destruction. The temptation is to satisfy holy drives with shortcuts. The result is always destructive.
To love God with all of your strength:
First, trust in God’s design for your body.
King David declares in Psalm 139:14, “I will praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Determine to see the holy and unique potential God has invested in you. Don’t focus on your limitations. Instead, develop what you have and let it reach its full potential — even if that means simply overcoming the challenges you face. If Nick Vujicic can do it with no arms and no legs, so can you. To hear and see Nick tell his story, search “Nick Vujicic, I was born with no arms and no legs.”
Second, honor God with your body.
Paul asks us in I Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”
Some of us treat our collectible cars or motorcycles better than we treat the amazing bodies God has invested in us. The value you place on something greatly determines how you will treat it. If you don’t value the incredible body God has given you, you will treat it poorly.
How valuable is your body — and its future potential? Jesus purchased your body with His own life. Your body is the temple of God’s Spirit, who lives in you. Your body is the vessel in which new life begins. Your body is the tool you use to serve and love others. Do you treat your body accordingly? Consider nutrition, rest, exercise, hygiene, proximity to sin, sexual purity, freedom from destructive, addictive, and mind-altering substances — and anything else that diminishes your physical potential.
Third, serve others with your body.
Paul writes in Philippians 2:5-11, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross.”
Jesus gave His body in full service for us — and He is calling on us to do it for others. It is with our bodies that we fulfill all of the “love one another” commands and the Great Commission and the role of the royal priesthood. When we love and serve each other with the incredible bodies God has invested in us, God is pleased.
