Joyful Transformation

How do you view your body? In any given day do you think about your body more than you think about your spirit? Do you ever get a little obsessive about it?

Last night I was reading (listening to) my new book. Willard makes the point that if we put our bodies first in our thinking that we are upside down from the way that God would have us to be. If we can develop the ability to live in the spirit and tune it to the kingdom of God even death will not be such a big event. We will just be passing through a phase of the Kingdom we live in.

This morning at the gym two of the girls Terri and I work out with were telling us about their recent surgery to “enhance” a certain portion of their anatomy. Immediately my mind starts to work…. “I could do that”, I say to myself. “It is really not that big a deal, everybody does it”. I was even thinking of some other “work” I could get done in that one lap around the track. Later Terri jokingly said she was going to just have liposuction. (like she needs it!).

It is easy to slip into upside down thinking that has nothing to do with growing in the Kingdom. While I think working out to take care of your health is a great thing, I cannot let it become the most important thing in my life. The transformation that I am seeking cannot come from the surgeon’s knife. However, the process is sometimes much more painful than being cut.