As I reflect on my day of rest, I keep coming back to a sermon a pastor of mine gave many years ago… That we are to buffet our bodies, not buffet (as in early bird special all you can eat) our bodies.  That message has been with me for many years.  He came out to give his message wearing an inflatable suit, to make sure we got the point and to give us a chuckle on the play on words, but his message has stuck with me. I was also much bigger when he gave the sermon and resembled the statements he made.

As a child of God, and a follower of Jesus, I am the church and it is my responsibility to take care of myself and to live as He would ask me to, as a role model for others in all aspect of life.  Not that I have to, as my friend Camille reminds me, it is a choice.  I choose to live in a way that honors myself and in turn honors Him.

I did a search online for scripture relating to health, trying to locate the scripture that Tracy had used in his message and found a few that jumped out at me.  I’ve shared them here.

• I urge you, brother and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  ~Romans 12:1 (NIV)
• Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. ~ 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)

My beliefs intermingle in all that I do, and that includes the choices I make to live a healthier life.  The better I care for myself, the healthier I am, the better I feel, the more energy I have and the better able I am to serve others.