15 August 2007 Devotion for Today “Running on the Fumes” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Have you ever had a car that has run out of gas? It hasn’t happened very often because I am married to someone who constantly reminds me that we need to fill up. I appreciate that. Only once, very early in our married life- we’d been married for about a year or less when we were on our way somewhere. This was west
There are many people, however, for whom “running on the fumes” is a constant way of life. Most of the time it gets them going around the bend or to the next place, but sometimes it doesn’t. When we dip into the tank for some physical energy, we all want the ladle to return with something in it. Unfortunately for too many of us the tank dried up years ago and we’ve been running on the fumes. Our physical bodies perform only as well as we maintain and take care of them, just like a car. Some cars, when they are tuned up good, have good tires on them, etc can go for a long time on a tank of gas. Others won’t. You don’t have to listen to the news reports at least once a week there is a news story on that says that a large percentage of Americans are sadly out of shape and have diminished physical energy reserves because of poor conditioning. Some, such as mothers of newborns and those who work two jobs, are chronically sleep deprived, and they are running out of gas. Still others suffer from chronic biscuit poisoning. Today I am going to touch on a subject that most congregations and especially preachers studiously avoid. We’ve been looking at margins- and where our margins run especially thin is in the physical realm. Most Christians concern themselves, or focus almost entirely upon their spiritual lives. But God has also called us to take in trust this physical body that He has given to us and to care for it.
The Apostle Paul makes these observations in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:
“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
You say, “If I wanted a sermon about my physical body, I will go to the doctor’s office!” Friends, let me tell you something- everything about our soul, our mind, our emotions, our bodies, our spiritual life- they are all inter-connected. What happens to our bodies also affects us spiritually. IF we have worn down our physical margin, there will be no time or energy to pray. When we have no energy to pray, we get further away from God. When we get far away from God, we just go through the motions. We will grow very little, spiritually. Christ gets pushed further away from the center of our lives because we work more and sleep less, eat more and exercise less that we wonder why we start breaking down emotionally, becoming irritable, miserable, and unhappy and depressed. Our physical health has a lot to do with that. When we have no margin physically, we feel under-rested and overwhelmed.
Its important to take care of our bodies as much as the spirit. True, we are going to leave this body behind when we go to be with the Lord- but that doesn’t mean that we need to shed it sooner than necessary. When we are “running on the fumes,” our bodies wear out much more quickly. God has work for you to do for Him right now. May we all do what we can- through good rest, nutrition and exercise- to be good stewards of the precious gift of life God has given to us.
Have a blessed day!
Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@embarqmail.com
jcrussell@liberty.edu
Church website: http://25621.lifewaylink.com
Devotion Archives: http://www.msnusers.com/DevotionforToday
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