How would you answer the question, “Who owns your body?” It is a questions that usually comes up in our culture as a statement. This statement was made in the recent presidential elections. But, I want you to move past the rhetoric and honestly answer the question, “Who owns my body?” The answer to this question might surprise you and challenge you!
I think it is fair to say that common thought today is you own your body. Yet for the follower of Christ the Scriptures reveal a different truth. Now you may be wondering if it really matters. This truth when property understood impacts just about every area of your life and the choices that you make. Let’s begin with an illustration of your home. Now, if you do not own your home, think of something that you do own and might let another person borrow, like a car, a game or even clothing. I wonder how you would feel if you returned home after letting someone use your home while you were gone to find it trashed. Let’s say the sink and counter were filled with dirty dishes. There was stuff spilled on the stove and there were still pans on the counter with burned food in them. You noticed there were stains on your carpet from uncleaned spills and there were even holes in the walls. I think you get the picture. How would you feel when you returned home to these revelations? I know that I would be upset and so would you. The question I want to ask is, “Why are you upset?” It is because the person(s) you let use your house did not take care of it. They did not respect it. Let me be a little more specific, they did not respect you as the owner of the house. Now let’s bring this into perspective. If they were your dishes in the sink, stains on the floors or even holes in the wall that would not be a problem because you are the owner of the house. But for someone using you house to treat it that way is wrong, because they are not the owner.
This past Sunday in our Reboot series I looked at the need to take care of our bodies. The emphasis was on healthy living and you can listen to the message here. Now this message could apply to any of a number of areas of the follower of Jesus’ life. The primary Biblical motivation for taking care of your body, is because you are not the owner, Jesus is. The Bible reminds us, “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, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”(1 Corinthians 6:19–20) We are reminded that Jesus owns us. The Apostle Peter was a little more specific, “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:18–19 ) The words “bought” and “ransomed” remind us that the rights to our bodies were purchased by God. It means that God owns us. Now the 1 Corinthians passage reminds us why we do not engage in sexual activity outside of marriage. This passage could by extension also be applied to many other areas in your lives and especially to healthy living. The reason you use your body in a God honoring way is because He owns the rights to all of you.
Let me encourage you to consider making a resolution to move toward healthy living. For many of us this means getting in shape and losing some pounds. For others it means dealing with an unbiblical body image, that I address more fully in the message, and could involve putting on some pounds. Yet for others it might mean getting some help with addictive or destructive habits that are destroying our body. So what is one practical change you could work on to honor God with your body in 2017? “you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. ” (1 Corinthians 6:20)
-Pastor Joe Parkinson