Be Prepared: The Body

There are a lot of quotes that people attribute to the Bible that aren't there. One of them is "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." That is not in the Bible.

However, having a clean, healthy body is part of the preparation for serving the Lord. Not only is our strength increased if we are clean and free from germs, but our testimony is also increased. Don't you hate it when the dirty, scary guy is holding up a Scripture sign? It's not a great testimony.

This is a pretty simple concept, but in order to prepare yourself to serve the Lord, take a shower!

Be Prepared: The Body

I don't know if you, my friends, are just comment shy or if this topic of caring for the body has us all stumped. Just in case it's the latter, I thought I'd share a few verses on the importance of care for our body, the temple.

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"

1 Corinthians 3:16

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"

1 Corinthians 6:19

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

1 Corinthians 10:31

This body is the only vessel we have with which to serve God. Are you caring for it in light of that?

Come on People!

Give me some suggestions for eating right in order to maintain your strength to serve the Lord!

Be Prepared: The Body, part 2

"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

In part one, we talked about getting enough rest. This time, I want to talk about getting proper nutrition. I want to talk about it, but I struggle with it. I eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and I take a good supplement, but I still don't feel like my diet is optimum for serving the Lord. I've even begun preparing two meatless meals a week for the family, but this is one area of real struggle for me.

So I'm going to do something different. I'm going to ask you. If you have any ideas, Scriptural and or practical for supporting your strength for serving the Lord with the things that you eat, post a comment and let me know.

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.