If God or one of his angels or whoever came to me with something and asked me to take care of it because Christ was in it, I like to think I’d take very good care of it. I like to think I’d protect it and maintain it well ahead of anything else I did. That said, I don’t think I’ve ever thought of my body that way. When Downs wrote at the end of today’s devotional, “start viewing [your body] as a temple of God that you get to spend your life caring for and using for His glory” i was struck by how I’ve never thought of my own body that way. Perhaps I should.

I started to consider other points Downs made earlier in the day’s writing:

“If we don’t take care of our bodies, we are limiting our ability to do [God’s] work.”

“If we aren’t treating our bodies well, we are shortening our impact on the planet.”

Do I want to limit my ability to do God’s work? No.

Do I want any impact to have to be cut-short? Absolutely no.

I choose today to look after my body because God gave it to me to care for, and because if it breaks I may not be able to do his work so well. You heard it here first.

PS I signed up for a Pilates class last week. It starts in two weeks. Every time I get scared about that, I’m going to remember today’s reading and be brave.