Don't Worry, You Will
When the naysayers said to Arnold Schwarzenegger, "Arnold, we never want to look like you," he famously quipped, "Don't worry. You never will." My younger self chuckles, because on the surface that's one of the best replies I've ever heard. But then again, it's not the surface I'm worried about. Thing is, honoring God with our bodies has nothing to do with the size and shape of muscle. If you think about it, our eyes are part of the body. So what we look at or avoid, what we notice, what we see, what we LIKE on social media, and what we don't look at, that's honor. Our ears too, can't forget those. What we discipline ourselves to listen to, and when we cover our ears to gossip, when we choose to miss a workout to listen to somebody's hurts, that's honoring God with the body. And the tongue, oh man, our words. Talk about honor God! What we say, who we say it to, the topic of discussion, just name it; to say nothing about the time we take to actually talk to Him!
Biceps? Not about circumference, but about picking up your brother. Triceps? Not about what you can pressdown, but about extending the arms to serve, to help, to shake hands, to wipe tears, point directions, and wave hello. (I could go on, but I'll spare you.) Cover your ears Arnold, but any amount of muscle we have should serve to enable us to get where God needs us to be so we can honor Him with the body.
I think that's why Paul - inspired by God - urged us to train in godliness above all. And as I sit here thinking about it, when we train in godliness, spending time in God's word, on our knees in prayer, listening to worship music or Christian lyrics, we're training to look just like Jesus. To think like Him. Walk where He would walk. Talk like He would have us talk. It's a divine twist, right? The purpose of our health is to make much of Jesus, but it's when we eventually lose that health that we'll finally see why: Him. And in that moment, we'll look just like Him. We'll forgive just like Him. We'll extend grace JUST LIKE HIM. We'll be everything we trained for; that's glory.
When we say, "Jesus, we want to look just like you." He says, "Don't worry, you will." Jimmy Peña
Guys, have a good weekend. Such an honor being a part of your week. So many prayer requests, so many names. If you missed any of this week's entries, please sift through and lift people up. Much love to everyone.
