Your body doesn’t matter (and why that’s a lie).

I recently spent a few hours in the ER wondering if I was having a heart attack.  Two very important things happened that day.  First, I didn’t have a heart attack.  And second, I didn’t bring anyone to Christ in that ER visit.  And in my current condition, my days of bringing anyone to Christ are numbered.  If I am called to be a soldier of Christ, I had better start treating my body that that of a soldier.

We’ve all heard of the airline safety speech.  “Put the oxygen mask on yourself before you help others.”  You’re no good to anyone if you’re no longer here.  We know the people around us who seem to give it all for their kids, their spouse, their co-workers and even complete strangers.  And that’s amazing.  That the life of sacrifice we’ve been called to live.  But we also know the people who are doing so at great expense to their own health.  Is this okay?  Is this God’s plan?

You can lose your life by answering your calling to rush into burning buildings or do a mission trip into the most dangerous parts of the world.  But that’s not me.  My life is at risk right now but not because of the calling I’ve received.  My life is at risk because I am 85 pounds overweight and borderline diabetic.  That’s not the way God designed my body to work.  And I’m starting to see that I can’t answer His calling if I’m not running the way He intended.

Time is the problem.  Simple as that.  I don’t have time to eat healthy so I end up in another drive through.  I don’t have time to exercise.  I don’t even have time to drink enough water in the day.  But for me, that’s all a lie.  I’ve spent more time in a drive through line than it would take me to make my own breakfast.  I’ve blogged instead of walking a few miles on the treadmill.  Here’s the real question: Can I fully answer God’s plan in my current condition?  I don’t think so.  If God thought I could fully serve him in my current condition, then he wouldn’t have designed me to operate in a healthier condition.  God doesn’t make mistakes.

This morning I am telling you that I matter.  My body matters.  My ability to stay on this planet long enough to help as many people as possible matters.  And my reasons for my current condition aren’t even real reasons.  They are lies that I have gotten very good at telling myself.  And I need, we need, to stop listening to those lies.

Our bodies were designed by a Creator who wanted us to do amazing things.  But to do those things, we need to run our bodies the way they were designed to run.  I am making a public commitment today to honor God and his design of my body by caring for it the way he intended.

Who is with me?  Whether you’re at the pillar of health and vowing to stay there, or you realize your body isn’t running the way our Creator designed it, we can all answer our call better if we equip our bodies better to take action when called upon.

We were built to be heroes.

It’s about time we started caring for ourselves like heroes.