Saturday, November 29, 2008

Listen to Your Body

Here is a posting that will probably be filled with mostly question and few if any answers. How do you listen to your body? What does it’s voice sound like? How do I know I am listening accurately? When do I say no to the voices of my body or when do I say yes? I have lived my life mostly saying no or ignoring my body. I know when I am hungry and tired. I know when I am sick. But I have pushed my body. My body has been the convenient vehicle for me to live in while I travel through life. The Apostle Paul calls it an old clay pot and in another place a tent (a temporary dwelling).

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2Co 4:7)

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. (2 Corinthians 5:1) [see also 2 Cor. 5:4; 2 Peter 1:13]

So, should I ignore my body and treat it as merely an earthly receptacle or earthly transport system that is irrelevant to my “real life.” That seems to be the mistake of those Gnostics and aesthetics who developed a dualistic view of life. The Apostle Paul seems to offer some counterbalancing advice when he describes our body as a temple like the Holy of Holies for the people of Israel.

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? (1Co 3:16)


It would seem that Paul is even giving some medical advice to young Timothy.

Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
(1Ti 5:23)

Solomon counsels his son to listen to wisdom and instruction so that he will experience health.

for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. (Pro 4:22)

I am still learning how to listen. I am ready to listen to advice ... just not too much all at once. And ... I will keep searching the greatest source of wisdom, the Word of God. What a journey it is!

Today is another great day.

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