Hello friends, welcome to Embolden. I'm Chris Shatter, an ordinary Christian living with and learning about an extraordinary God. Welcome to day two of 30 Days of Giving Glory to the Almighty God. Today's podcast is inspired by Romans 1517.
Therefore I give glory in Christ Jesus and my service to God. And please join me in this prayer. Heavenly Father, as I begin my workout, help me to have the strength and fortitude to complete it, so that I may be strong in order to serve you with all my heart, mind and body. And in that service, my body gives glory to you for all that you have given me, amen.
One of the many lessons I've gleaned through studying the Bible is that Jesus wants all of us, our entire body, mind and heart. He's not a half-way kind of guy. You're either on the path and maybe struggling to stay on it or you're wandering off into the forest. There's no one foot on and one foot off, because when we get to the narrow gate, you've got to have both feet firmly planted to walk through it.
This includes taking care of that body God gave us. 1 Corinthians 6 19-20 says, Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price.
Therefore honor God with your bodies. Put in context this Bible verses referring to sexually immoral acts. However, it can also simply remind us that our bodies are God-given. And like all God's gifts, He wants to use it as good stewards.
Why? To put our gift into service for the children of God to glorify Him. One day after beating myself up about my weight, my aging face, my bad hair, I stood in front of the mirror and had an epiphany. I'm a child of God.
My body belongs to Him. And my complaining and lack of caretaking of my body was rude. Yes, rude and disrespectful to God. I needed to instead think of ways to care for this gift and glorify Him with it.
Whatever state our bodies are in, be it fit or old or not quite fully functioning or basically in working order, we need to take care of it so that when we are called upon by the Holy Spirit, we are ready for action. Even if you are in a wheelchair, your arms can be strong to hug a person or maybe just hold someone's hand. If you are struck with the disease affecting you physically, God is still launching in His Holy Service. So friends, break out your sneakers, snap on your headband, pick up those weights and get moving.
Get strong, get ready. Your neighbor, your friend, a stranger, a family member may need you today to lend a hand. And when you step forward to help, remember to thank God for this gift and glorify Him. Have an amazing day.
I hope you enjoyed this episode of The Embolden Podcast. Be sure to follow along so you don't miss any episode. And check out my blog at Embolden.net.