Be Prepared: The Body

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment."

Mark 12:30

We are supposed to love the Lord with all of our strength. To better serve the Lord, we should maintain our strength. I believe the number one cause of women not having the strength to do the things that would please the Lord is that we do not get enough rest.

The Lord never intended for us to wear ourselves out serving the Lord while neglecting our bodies. Even to the disciples he said:

"And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat." (emphasis mine)

Matthew 6:31

The disciples were so busy that "they had no leisure so much as to eat." Sounds like a busy woman, doesn't it. When their lives reached this point, the Lord called them apart to rest a while.

The things we should do in order to get enough rest to serve the Lord with all our strength are simple things that we often forget.

• Go to bed.

I know it sounds simple, but it is so easy to want to do those few extra things after the rest of the household had gone to bed. It seems productive to work while everyone else sleeps, but it will catch up to you. The living room may be dusted and the laundry may be put away but your strength will not be such that you can love the Lord the way you should.

• Pace yourself.

It has been said many times but life is a marathon, not a sprint. Plan those things you must accomplish in such a way that you do not destroy your strength.

• Take time to come aside and rest.

I try to take a short break once an hour. For 10 minutes or so, I stop … drink some water … maybe step outside and enjoy the weather … just something to restore my strength before continuing on with the task at hand.

Prepare yourself to serve the Lord by getting enough rest.