ON THE VANGUARD

THAT SICK FEELING
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”
I Corinthians 3:16

I have been thinking recently. Well if truth be told I think often, but this time was more pointed. I have been thinking about the foods that I put in my body. I do not claim to be a dietician or health guru because I have plenty of changes I need to make in my own body. But as I have been making myself more aware of the dangers of certain foods I have come to notice a few ironic elements concerning the foods many of us eat. For instance, why is it that we consume diet drinks to lose weight knowing that it has aspartame in it. Aspartame has been said to play a factor in numerous health risks such as headaches, seizures, anxiety, and birth defects to name a few. If these dangers are true, then it seems ironic that we would risk possible seizures only to prevent our body of a few pounds. Or how about the ironic details concerning trans fat. A bag of chips can state clearly that they contain zero grams of trans fat. Yet a simple review of the ingredients will record the use of partially hydrogenated oil, which is trans fat, just a small enough portion that legally an item can still be marked as zero.
Let us go one step further, though. Not only are we ironic in our food and drink, but I think we are also ironic in other areas. I know for me that I hate to get sick. I detest a stuffy nose. When I even sense a cold coming on I jump right in my medicine cabinet for proactive relief. My actions match an idea quoted by Pastor Mark Buchanan. “Physical sickness we usually defy. Soul sickness we often resign ourselves to.” Wait, did I just read that right? Yes I do defy being physically sick, but Buchanan states also that we are more apt to embrace a spiritual sickness? Can this really be true? Upon reading this quote I first looked up the word ‘resign’. The definition of resign is to prepare to accept something unpleasant. Is it true that I will fight against the flu, or even my fat cells, with more vigor and urgency than I will fight against the enemy attacking my soul?
In I Corinthians 3:16, Paul writes, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” With Pentecost soon approaching, I want to take the time to talk about God’s Spirit at a later yet soon date. So then, let us focus on the first part today, the part that reminds us we are God’s temple. The first question we should ponder is if we even believe this. When you look in the mirror do you see yourself as His temple? I have heard it said that the longest distance in the world is the distance between the head to the heart. I think it is true. I know because God’s Word tells me so that I am His temple. But do I believe it in my heart? I’ll answer honestly…not always. There are many times when I look at myself and see nothing that is worthy of resembling His temple. There is so much junk in me still that I need God to clean out that I am embarrassed to call myself His temple. That then leads to the second question. What do we do about it?
When I want to lose weight I begin to count calories. When I want to overcome a sickness I take medicine. But what do I do when I want to become God’s temple, as I should be? I think the first step should be that I cease resigning; stop preparing for the unpleasant. I hate to sound like a broken record, but oh well. The same vigor that we attack fat cells and sickness with should be the same vigor that we defend our body and spirit with against the devil. This is the war we are in, and unfortunately, this is the war that too many are losing. Will you be one who continues to lose, or will you be one who attacks with vigor that sick feeling of sin that is coming against you?