Mark 12:30 (NLT)
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.
We all need to be reminded of things in order to remember (and hopefully apply) them. So, here are a few highlights from our first week of devotions on the physical body:
1. “Within the confines of the Bible is diet, nutrition, exercise, meditation, rest, supplements, and energy. During this month, as you desperately attempt to cling to your new year’s resolutions of weight loss and exercise machines, view the Bible not only as a road map for the soul…but the body as well. Drop the diet books. Pick up the Bible.
2. When we stand in front of the mirror to brush our teeth every morning, we shouldn’t look away in disgust, mumbling such phrases as, “I’m too fat, how can anyone love me, or I’ll never be able to be fit.” Nor should the opposite be true of us, leering at the mirror, stroking our six pack, and flexing our muscles in admiration of our glorious image. Rather, we should be able to smile, say “I’m a child a GOD and a work in progress,” thank him for such things as your ability to stand in front of a mirror (legs) and be able to see your visage (eyes), then give him your body in the day ahead, as a living sacrifice.
3. Quite simply, because we’ve gotten away from eating whole, healthy, GOD-created foods and substituted them with greasy, processed, pseudo-food which may taste great but has little, if any, nutritional value. It’s the equivalent of throwing trash down your throat. In our relationship with Jesus, we don’t shove rubbish and sin into our spirits. So why do we do it to our bodies, which currently house the spirit?
Applications: see the Bible as a health and wellness book, find a balance when it comes to looking at yourself, changes come in the small things
Nutrition Tips: include fruit, honey, and a multi-vitamin in your diet
Exercise Tips: warm up by stretching and breathing and getting your heart rate up, switch up your workouts to avoid boredom, and manage your time wisely by blending exercise with family fun
