A sound and blameless body

A sound and blameless body is a phrase taken from the Bible; it concerns our well-being.

Clearly it is God's desire that we should be strong in body and sound in mind. But those are attributes that evade many of us; could it be that very often we are ourselves to blame?

The context of the passage is that the apostle Paul is telling us that the second coming of our Lord will be like a thief in the night, catching many by surprise.

He reminds us that in contrast we are children of the light; always alert and ready lest we too may be caught out.

He is the God of peace and it is His desire that every part of us, all the way through, Paul emphasizes should be untroubled not only with Him but also ourselves; and one another too.

In this essay I ask if your body is ready for him? It ought to be sanctified, set apart and strong; fit for his sacred use.

Whilst this is the mission of every Christian many of the great saints have remarked on what a struggle it is so we should not feel all alone. St Francis of Assisi for example described his body as Brother Ass; a useful, sturdy and lovable creature but stubborn as all hell.

What makes up a strong and whole body? In no particular order of merit I would suggest the following to you; plenty of exercise and good food.

When we accept Jesus into our lives some things are settled immediately; our sins are completely forgiven and our place in heaven is assured for example. But other issues take many years to accomplish as we slowly grow into the likeness of Christ, ready to spend eternity with him.

Caring for our own bodies is one of these issues that most of us battle with.

Exercise

No Christian that I know has ever described this life as easy. In Pilgrim's Progress the author, John Bunyan, aptly describes the many temptations and pitfalls that he has faced; anyone who has read the book will find him or herself nodding in agreement.

Put on the whole armour of God, is the apostle's cry. Protect your spirit, soul and body from the temptations of the evil one. Should he succeed in bringing down any one of these three, he will have blunted our effectiveness as warriors of the Lord.

Daily exercise of one sort or another should be an imperative for every Christian. That might be taking a walk, digging in the garden or riding a bicycle; or your favourite.

Perceived as an instrument that protects the whole body, we embrace exercise joyfully, in theory but in practice for many it is hard. Brother Ass can be very stubborn.

View taking exercise as an act of obedience to God; worship and wait on Him as you walk or garden. Keep your body strong and free from the wiles of the devil as he seeks to bring you down; and make you less effective as a Christian through pain and sickness.

Just as one is called to protect the soul with the breastplate of righteousness, so exercise contributes to saving our bodies from disease and disability; it helps to keep it sound and blameless.

Good food

In few areas has Satan been more successful than in making worldly and ruinous meals appear to be the norm for Christians too. He has very effectively seduced us into thinking that fast foods, especially those that are sugary and highly-refined are just fine for Believers.

Yet we intuitively, deep in our spirits, and confirmed by strong science know that they can completely undo a sound body, making us weak and less effective soldiers of our Lord; and sucking up vast amounts of money for doctors in the process.

This whole site is about our well-being as Christians so I'm not going to belabour the point here. Just recognise that it is His intense desire that you have a sound and blameless body, sanctified through the Holy Spirit, ready for His command.

These are my top 7 functional-foods for our optimal wellness.

Blameless?

The inference here is that we are often ourselves to blame for the poor state of our minds, souls and bodies. The God of peace will forgive and sanctify us but poor decisions by Brother Ass can nevertheless leave us permanently marred.

I find it interesting that Satan tempted Jesus to jump from the pinnacle of the temple; suggesting that his heavenly Father would command the angels to save him so that he would not even dash his foot against a stone.

But Christ saw through the wiles of the devil because he himself had created the law of gravity; he would have been completely to blame had he leaped from the heights.

He knew that it was his Father's desire that he should be completely blameless, even when facing the forces of nature.

And so it is also His desire that we too should have sound and blameless bodies. Let us recognise the wiles of the devil for what they are; temptations that will lead to the destruction of our well-being. Swallowing junk food may take a little longer to destroy us, but in the end it will be just as effective as jumping from the pinnacle of the temple.

A sound and blameless body

A sound and blameless body is surely something we all desire but it means saying a firm "no" to temptation and pleading for mercy when we have slipped.

Life is a mystery

Now we see through a glass darkly; later when we face Him as we all shall, the many mysteries of life will be explained to us. Not for a moment am I suggesting that all of poor bodily wellness arises from our stubbornness and stupidity; but much of it does.

I too struggle but I aim high in my desire for a sound and blameless body.

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