DISCLAIMER: This post is about alcohol. I know the devastating effects alcohol has had on families. I am not advocating alcohol consumption. For nearly 30 years I chose not to drink beer, wine, or any alcohol. I champion that choice.
Firestone Walker Brewing created a beer in 2012 that quickly grew beyond its 805 area code into a national brand. If I have a beer with pizza, that is the one I would choose because its a smooth blonde ale. My alcohol consumption is really small and pretty sparse. Its just not my thing and I would like to maintain good health at age 63. The primary purpose of my body is to house my soul, not experience ongoing pleasures. God has given me guidance how to maintain my body but allows some freedom too. I eat vegetables, but not exclusively,… I like a beautifully cooked burger or steak. All this to say- my body is on loan to my soul from God, so technically its not my body, but God’s. I will treat it with great care because I belong to Him. Pastor Greg Laurie once said- “your body is a temple, not a playground… until your married, then its both”. Now, that’s funny!
All things are permitted for me, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, however God will do away with both of them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body… For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:12-13;20 NASB
How am I extending the use of the body which God has given me? How do I maintain purity in an overly-sexualized society?
God, as this day begins- I am reflecting on the proper use of this wonderful (frail though it is) body You have entrusted to me. Help me steward it as carefully as I do everything else You’ve given so that I might glorify You with it. I pause to pray again for dear people I know, grieving the departure of their beloved family members. May I be ever sensitive to the deep pain they feel May You remind us all that You’ve subjected all we see to “futility” so that we long for another eternal place in Your presence.
