Destiny, is God’s good plan for our lives.
As far as our destinies are concerned, does God even care how we treat our bodies? It’s our spirit and our soul that he is concerned about, right? Isn’t it just worldliness to spend time and energy trying to keep this body alive a few more years?
We believe God is infinitely concerned about how we treat our bodies. Why? Because our body is the vehicle we are given to accomplish our destiny! If our bodies give out early, we cannot finish all that God has planned for us. Our body is also the place where God’s spirit lives.
1 Corinthian 6:19-2o Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 3:16-18 16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Evidently God is serious about how we treat our bodies. Why? Because God has a plan for my life and your life, and, until he returns, that plan is carried out in this body we live in. How serious is God? According to 1 Corinthians 3:17, if we abuse our bodies, he will remove our bodies and take us home to be with him.
I once heard Charles Swindoll, the famous theologian/teacher, share a conversation he had with a man who felt that concern for our physical bodies was unspiritual. As I remember the story, Swindol was trying to encourage the man to take better care of his body, to slow down his pace of life a bit. To rest on Sunday, as God has suggested. The man was boasting to Mr. Swindoll,“In my service to God; I’d rather burn out, than rust out!” I will never forget Swindoll’s response; he paused for a moment and then said, “either way you’re out!” Whether you burn out or rust out, you’re out!
God has a plan for our lives, a specific, awesome, fruitful plan. God has given us the potential of having close to 120 years to fulfill that plan.[1] You have a destiny, what a waste to die young, cutting short your destiny, because you didn’t take care of the body He gave you. Some people have argued, “There is nothing we can do to extend or shorten our years of productivity, because Ecclesiastes says ‘there is… a time to be born and a time to die.” They conclude, if God has set a specific time to die, then we are powerless to alter it. I agree that there is a time to die, but most people never live long enough to reach their appointed time. In Psalm 55:23 King David writes that sinful men, (men and women who miss the mark), “Will not live out half their days.” He is saying that you get a certain number of days, but sin can cut those days in half. In Ephesians 6:2,3 the apostle Paul quotes from the Ten Commandments…
“Honor your father and mother”—- which is the first commandment with a promise— that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
Paul is quoting from the old testament, affirming that there are decisions that we make that will either shorten our lives or lengthen them. Which road we choose can make a difference for eternity.
Many good Christians I talk to express no desire to live long. They usually say something like, “Why would I want to extend my life? I’m not that attached to this world. I would much rather go home to be with my Jesus.” This sounds so spiritual, but is it? I think this attitude is illustrated in this humorous story.
An elderly Christian couple had taken such good care of their bodies that they were now in their eighties and were still going strong. Unfortunately, they were the victims of a car accident and both went to heaven at the same time. When they got to heaven St. Peter took them to their new mansion. It was beyond anything they had ever seen and the couple was overjoyed. After the initial shock, the husband took Peter aside and explained that though they loved the house, they probably couldn’t afford it. Peter laughed and told the man that he was in heaven, and the house was free. Next, Peter showed the man that in his back yard was the most beautiful eighteen-hole golf course ever seen. This golf course changed to a new fantastic course every day. The man thanked Peter profusely but again expressed a concern for how expensive the greens fees might be. Peter laughed and told him that there was no charge for the use of the golf course. Next Peter took them to a banquet table spread with the most beautiful and delicious food imaginable. Once more the man said that though the food looked very good, he and his wife couldn’t eat it because they were on a strict diet, the food had way too many calories. Finally, Peter, a little exasperated, said “listen; this is heaven, everything is free, nothing is harmful; you can eat all you want and never get fat or unhealthy.” On hearing this, the man paused for a moment, deep in thought, then turned to his wife and said, “If it wasn’t for you and your bran muffins we could have been here a long time ago.
This is funny, but is this what our savior died for? Many people are saying, “the sooner I get to heaven the better.” Paul expressed the same desire, but his conclusion takes a different twist.
Philippians 1:24-25 “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this. I know that I will remain and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith.”
Jesus said that there were two great destinies, two great Godly motivators; to love God and love people.
We demonstrate our love for God by caring for the body that He gave us and by caring for the body that the Holy Spirit chooses to live in: yours! We demonstrate our love for people by living and serving as long as possible, to help as many people as possible. Paul said that death was not our friend, but, instead, it is our last enemy. (1 Corinthians 15:26) We are to fight that enemy as long as we can. Why? Every soul you win will be eternally grateful to you for sticking around long enough that they could hear the Gospel and grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. They will be your eternal reward.[2]
Does God have a specific destiny for each of us?
Psalms 139:13-16 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made: your works are wonderful; I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Before we were born God wrote a book about each of us. It was his good plan for our lives. His plan included good works for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
It has been said that it is better to finish well than to start well. God is looking for people who can make it for the long run, and, if you are going to make it for the long run, you are going to have to take care of your body. The best way to take care of your body is to follow the instructions in his owner’s manual, the Bible. You can find those instructions in our previous blogs that share God’s advice on; (rest, exercise, food, attitude and more). Follow God’s instructions and you will have a healthy body to work with, but then what do we do with it? How do we know what our destiny is? Here is a very brief answer, to that very important question.
- You simply must look at how God made you. What things are you good at, and what do you enjoy doing. That is the best place to start. He made you good at the things he wanted you to do, and he gave you the ability to enjoy those things.
- Next, ask God for help each day, “apart from God we can do nothing”.[4] Pray a simple prayer something like this: “Father, I want to know your will for my life today, lead me and give me the strength to do your will.”
- Then act on your holy-hunches. When a thought goes through your head that is selfless, and does not contradict God’s word, do it.
Here are a couple of examples from Shary’s life and my life, that illustrate how God uses his still small voice to guide us.[3] It also illustrates how God can take something that seems to be insignificant to us, and turns it into a life changing event for someone else.
At a pastor’s conference, held at New Beginnings Christian Church in Portland, we were asked to greet the people around us. As I turned to greet the woman behind me, a thought went through my head that I should give her the ten-dollar bill in my pocket. It seemed a little presumptuous, but I just apologized and said. “I realize this is a little strange, but I feel God nudging me to give you this money.” The woman immediately burst into tears. She told me that she and her husband were really struggling financially. They had come to the conference as a kind of last ditch effort to decide if they should continue working as pastors. Most of the women at the conference were going to a luncheon that cost ten dollars and she didn’t have it. She said that she had just told God that if he would provide the money for the meal she would take it as a sign that he was still with them in the ministry. There was no celestial music in my ears like in the movies, no thunder and lighting, just a quiet thought. When we doubt we hear God, we need to remember that Jesus said his sheep hear his voice. You are a sheep, aren’t you? Ok, then you do hear his voice.
When Peter was barely old enough to play soccer, we signed him up. We had to do something before he drove us crazy. When we arrived at the first practice, all the parents were there and they all stayed for the entire practice. While we were waiting, I noticed a girl that I had gone to school with in Forest Grove. I introduced her to Shary and they talked for a while. On the way home I told Shary the girl was a grade above me in school and she was super nice and super popular and had been the queen of everything in High School. About a week later Shary had a thought, (a holy hunch) go through her head. She felt God wanted her to call this girl up and ask her to be her friend. Shary protested, she told me and God that this would certainly look like Shary was this needy person asking, “would you be my friend’. It wasn’t sky writing, it was just a holy hunch, so Shary declined. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the thought would not go away. Finally, Shary took a deep breath and made the call. She apologized and said this might sound a little crazy, but she was calling because she felt God wanted them to be friends. Shary said that there was a long pause on the other end of the line. Shary was sure the girl was trying to figure out how to get the crazy person off the phone. Then Shary heard crying, when the girl composed herself, she told Shary that she had been having a rough time, and had been contemplating suicide. She explained to Shary that she had told God, “If he would just bring me a Christian friend, I won’t do it.
At this point I must admit that these experiences don’t happen every day for Shary and me. The reason they don’t happen every day is that I am not always that tuned in, I wish I were. Only Jesus lived out his destiny perfectly. But as his followers, we will accomplish more of our destiny if we have a healthy body.
You have a destiny I have a destiny and if we are always sick and tired, it will be too hard to follow the still small voice of God. If we die young, we will not have the time to do all that God as planned for us. Don’t give in to people that don’t think it is important to follow God’ advice. Jesus said…
I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:18-19
Our purpose for writing each week is to obey Matthew 5:19, by providing you with biblical advice on the care and feeding of your body, God’s temple. We do it because this Biblical advice is so rare. We also do it, because we see thousands of good Christians, whose lives have been cut short, simply because they were never taught what the Word of God and the Law of God had to say about health and wellness.
If you are new to the wellness gospel, check out our oldest posts and work your way to the present. God has a lot to teach us about rest, sleep, attitude, sin and food. You will be richly blessed as you put his advice into practice.
If you believe God knows best, join us and the Wellness Gospel team; register for our weekly newsletter, then spread the word by sharing this with your friends on social media and may God bless you richly.
If you want to keep improving your health, and enjoy this kind of biblical scientific information, then I would like to recommend three must-read books.
- “None of These Diseases” by S. I. McMillen, M.D. and David E. Stern, M.D.
https://www.amazon.com/None-These-Diseases-Secrets-Century/dp/080075719X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478320824&sr=8-1&keywords=none+of+these+diseases
- “Let’s Play Doctor” by Dr. Joel Wallach
https://www.amazon.com/Lets-Play-Doctor-Ma-Lan/dp/0970149093/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478321040&sr=8-1&keywords=let%27s+play+doctor
- “God’s Guide To Biblical Health and Healing” by Rev. Chris & Shary Schauermann
You can get all these books at Amazon.com
References
- 120 year lifespan Deuteronomy 6:3 https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=120+years&qs_version=ESV
- People, your eternal reward and crown. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians+4:1&version=NIV
- Then still small voice of God https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=still+small+voice&qs_version=NKJV
- John 15:5