MY BODY, A TEMPLE

When I was about five, I remember, I was lying on the bottom bunk bed, my older sister on the top. I was afraid, "Was I saved?" Dad and Mom were serious Bible readers, and they read it to us every day. We lived in a small, old house with an outside toilet. Five children were born then, of the eight who finally arrived. It was late at night, I crawled out of bed, went into the living room that doubled as my parents’ bedroom and into my father’s arms. I told him I wanted to ask Jesus into my heart. His arms around me, he led me in a simple prayer, and I went back to my bed.

It was then that the Holy Spirit entered my life and I also became the hallowed shrine of the Holy Spirit; "...for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." 2 Co.6:16.

To take that truth to heart and understand what happened and from then on grow with this holy privilege was only to happen over years.

Now, at eighty-one, the truth of it is still growing in me.

WE CAN EASILY LOSE OUR FOCUS

Last year, at eighty, my yearly physical exam was good. At eighty-one, this month, it still was. Why? I cannot take credit. If my health does continue to be good, for how long? You see, God holds our souls in life. But I have a part. I am still learning to take seriously this fact: my body belongs to God. I am a temple of the Holy Spirit because the Bible says that I am. It is because I belong to God by faith in Jesus.

How do I know? The evidence of my faith is that the Bible is guiding me. It works for the good of all who believe and take it by faith. But faith has substance: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things not seen."Heb.11:1. “Does not even nature itself teach you…;” I Co.11:14. Where does life come from? Why does nature regenerate and grow? What is the mind, the soul and consciousness? What is gravity? How do you define these mysteries!

If I live or die this year, at eighty-one it is in the Hands of my Redeemer and Friend.

But I will continue to learn how to live, and eat, and exercise, and have faith, hope, and love.