Are you in the process of learning to live healthier? Maybe your New Year’s resolution was to eat better, exercise, or in some other way improve your physical health? Join us for the next few days as we offer scripture, insight, and encouragement to help on that journey.
Today’s scripture: Romans 12:1 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (David Zier):
I think I learned at an early age that life is lived in compartments. There was the sleep compartment, where you were unconscious for 6 to 8 hours a night. Then you had the day compartment, with school or work; the afternoon compartment for homework or fun. The night compartment was television time, reading, homework, and maybe a little more fun.
When I got serious about my spiritual life, those compartments started to shrink. Everything spiritual was about my heart and mind — it was kind of its own compartment. I knew about my physical health, but was I really integrating it all together? I had been exercising since college on a regular basis. Surviving a brain tumor in 1993 was a wake-up call, but it was also a reminder that things in life happen and we do the best we can.
But at some point, when do I integrate all of life into my spiritual journey? What does it mean to offer my body as a living sacrifice, pleasing to God? And how is that a spiritual act of worship? If I am to care for my soul, and cultivate a deeper love of God, and love for others, I can also direct that toward myself. In order to love myself, I can take care of what God has given me. When I do that, I am able to do more for God and others.
We all have our physical bodies, each with our own limits. But as we learn to pray to help take care of our souls, we can integrate a more prayerful way we can take care of our physical bodies to achieve a level of wholeness that is an act of worship. Psalm 34 states, “I will bless the Lord at all times.” What is your spiritual act of worship in how you care for yourself mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically?
Thought for the day: How have I shown worship to God in how I care for myself today?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.