Take Care of the Temple

... Mike [Yuen] had something else to say: “I’ve learned we’re not in control of life, and it’s arrogance [if] we think we are.  Each day is a precious gift from God we shouldn’t waste.  We have a purpose in this life, so let’s not neglect it.  Secondly, we can’t take health for granted.  While we do not have control over whether or not we contract cancer or have a disabling accident, there’s much we can do to take care of what we have -- we owe it to those who love us and depend on us, and we owe it to God who created us.”

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16)  Too many of us take better care of our cars than we do our bodies.  We can affix a dollar figure to a luxury automobile, but who can put a price on the ability to see, hear, think, walk and talk?

What can you do today to better maintain your physical [and mental] health?  Have you been putting off a checkup?  Ignoring your body’s warning signals?  As a Spanish proverb says, “From the bitterness of disease man learns the sweetness of health."

Prayer: Lord, you’ve given me so much, when I think of all the things my body can do.  I bless you for the gift of good health -- I commit myself to taking better care of the temple you have given me.
(Joni Eareckson Tada, “More Precious Than Silver,” May  30th)