You live in a home, your own a vehicle, you borrow books from the library, and you use a car service for transportation. Each of these are instances of things not being yours to do with what you please, because if treated poorly, there is a cost (specifically financially) to your actions. The way we treat our bodies is not any different.

“¹⁹Or 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,” – 1 Corinthians 6:19 (ESV)

I will admit, I did not think of my body this way. I know, as Christians do, that my body is a temple for God and the Holy Spirit, but I did not put the consequences fully together. Study this morning brought me to a different understanding.

Commentary from my NIV Bible: “If you line in a building owned by someone else, you try not to violate the building’s rules. Because your body belongs to God, you must not violate his standards for living.”

And from my ESV Bible: “As with other gifts from God, Christians are to exercise responsible stewardship over their bodies.”

As children of God, we are to be good stewards of what God has afforded us. Our bodies are no different.

“²⁰for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:20 (ESV)

As parents, if our boys want something, we often require them to pay for all or some of the item. This practice is to be sure they take ownership and will care for the item as opposed to treating it poorly. We also teach them that when they are interacting with someone else’s things they should care for it better than their own.

Our body is no different. We were purchased by Christ’s death on the cross and that purchase was for all of us, including our bodies. We are obligated to treat our bodies better than the things we purchase for ourselves for they belong to God.

How are you treating your body? Are you treating it as though you are a renter while here on earth? Do you really know; what is the meaning of your body belonging to God?

I wonder if this is what I am doing with my writings each day.

“¹And I, when I came to you brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. ²For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” – 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 (ESV)

Paul was very well educated and had every opportunity to use that education to sound off in extremely eloquent and authoritative ways (you see what I did there). Instead, he spoke the truth in ways that everyone would understand. He spoke to the topic at hand, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and the impact of that topic on us. He spoke in words and ways that those listening would understand.

I have sat in many a meeting where the speaker begins using terminology and rhetoric to demonstrate their knowledge and education to somehow sound smarter than the rest of us. Paul gives us the lesson that this is not needed. We don’t need to complicate things.

We are charged with taking the gospel to the people and in doing so, doesn’t it make sense to speak to them in the language they understand? It is important for us to study God’s Word so that we speak with knowledge and understanding ourselves, but when taking that knowledge we take it to those that understand. I remember helping to coach up a young man playing basketball. It was his first year moving to the sport and was having some trouble understanding the specific concept. I knew that he was an accomplished football player for the past few years and so I used football concepts to explain the basketball movements to which he quickly understood and was able to apply. I had to keep it simple and speak in a language he understood.

Paul lets us know that we do not and should not make it more complicated than it has to be. We should take to gospel to the people where they are in their environment and in their language. We have to know the gospel well enough to adjust our delivery to fit the audience we are addressing. No need to water down the message by attempting to puff it, or ourselves up.

When you speak about the gospel, do you have trouble getting it out? Do you have a plan to spread to those you are with? Are you able to speak their language? Do you know God’s Word well enough to keep it simple?

Have you ever been in the position of knowing something that others may not be aware?

“²⁸And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28 (ESV)

Paul is making it known that we know. We are in a position to be the reporters. Our position of knowledge of God and all of his glory, wisdom, and power places us in the important seat of declaration.

In the corporate world, and everywhere for that matter, I have seen people hoard knowledge to gain power and be seen as something greater than those around them. But real knowledge is meant to be shared and knowledge of Christ is the greatest knowledge we can have.

Are we ready to be the reporters God has set us to be? How can we be sure to tell of the knowledge we have? Now that we are aware of our knowledge, will we be willing to tell?

I think about a child, a penny, and a light socket. Kids will be kids, and as soon as you tell them “don’t put a key in the light socket”, what do they do? We are not much different there when it come to our sin.

“⁷What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet’.” – Romans 7:7 (ESV)

As soon as something is pointed out to us, we have a natural curiosity as human to check it out.

“¹⁴For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.” – Romans 7:14 (ESV)

Sin abounds in us constantly and when we know about it, the struggle is more difficult as we are being drawn to it based on our knowledge of it.

“¹⁸For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” – Romans 7:18 (ESV)

But, we have a deliverer from the sin in our lives. We may not be able to avoid the sin unconsciously, but we have a savior that knows this and wipes it away from us.

“²⁵Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” – Romans 7:25 (ESV)

Are you serving the law of God with your mind? Are you aware that you are still a sinner even though you have been delivered from your sin? What are your thoughts around knowing makes things more difficult?

My family and I are binge watchers of programs. Hawaii 5-0 is one of them and there is a character, Adam, who has been transformed over the seasons from a member of Japanese mob family to a contributing member of the 5-0 team. His movement from the family happened based on an instant decision, but the transformation took time. With the passage I read this morning this analogy came to mind.

“⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” – Romans 6:6 (ESV)

Once we have accepted Christ as our personal savior, we are afforded to no longer be slaves to sin. We are still sinners, however that sin does not rule our lives. We have a newness with our relationship with Christ and therefore are under his grace.

“¹⁴For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” – Romans 6:14 (ESV)

The Hawaii 5-0 character was no longer ruled by his old life in the mob family. The consequences to being part of the mob family were still there, however he had a newness to live to once he decided to turn away. He is under a new rule, one of rightness to all.

We are in a unique position in that once we have accepted Christ as our personal savior, we are no longer bound to sin. We have a new life and our old self is dead in God’s eyes. We are still going to sin, however our daily routine should be now to glorify God and therefor the sin is not ruling our lives. Will sin, yes all day, every day. The difference is that we are not actively taking opportunities to sin, we are actively looking for opportunities to live out our new relationship with Christ.

Have you taken the opportunity become a new person in Christ? Are you under the rule of sin or the rule of grace? Do you know that your old self has died?

Have you ever just known something with every fiber of your being? And that knowledge drove something deeper in you?

“³⁷No when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” – Acts 2:37 (ESV)

These had been listening to Peter and the passion he brought as he spoke of Jesus. They were intent with their learning that day and with the words of Peter, they were moved to take action with the same passion. They were in a position of wanting more based on the certainty of what they heard.

What did they hear?

“³⁴For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, ³⁵until I make your enemies your footstool.’ ³⁶Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” – Acts 2:36 (ESV)

They were reminded of just who Jesus was. Who it was that they had just killed. They were driven to an understanding of the actions they took.

After the understanding of what they did, they wanted to know “what next”? This question brought about action on the passion that was welling up inside of them, because they were now certain of who Jesus was.

Are you that certain of who Jesus is? Is the passion welling up inside of you? What actions are you ready to take to display that passion?

I remember a cartoon where a person in tunneling out of jail and has dug and dug and dug only to final tire out and head back to his cell if only he had gone a short distance further he would have been to freedom. We do not know how much further or when something will occur, but we must continue to work for it will come.

“⁶So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ ⁷He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’” – Acts 1:6-8 (ESV)

Jesus was letting them know that it is not for them to know when everything was to happen, but know that it would happen. Until then they had work to do in spreading the Gospel. We cannot know when Jesus is coming back, but until then, we have work to do in spreading the Gospel. We are working for God.

We should be taking pride in our work and not give up. It may seem as though we will never get there, but we are getting right where God wants us to be. We have to keep digging, even when tired, keep digging. Our reward is in the next scoop, the next person we share with, the next action we take on behalf of God. We are to keep working as Jesus said in verse 8 above, “you will be my witness”.

Are you getting tired and wanting to give up? Are you willing to keep digging? We do not know when Christ is coming again, don’t we have an obligation to keep working the plan that has been laid out for us?

”²⁴This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.” – John 21:24 (ESV)

There are things that we know and hold on to. John was a witness to the great things that Jesus did in his time on earth. Thanks to his witness, we are able to read about them and decide for ourselves.

Before you decide, we have to know the rest of the story. Paul Harvey was a gentleman on radio when I was younger who would begin by giving a bit of information that most folks were familiar with and then would proceed with telling “the rest of the story” and fill in some of the “other” details that made everything come to life.

“²⁵Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” – John 21:25 (ESV)

There is always more to the story that may or may not be known to everyone. It is up to us to “dig deeper”. That is what I am doing here. I want to know more and therefore am doing my level best to learn more by studying God’s Word. I am looking for more to allow God’s Word to come to life in my life.

Will you spend time learning “the rest of the story”? What is there that you want to know more about? How will you know if you do not “dig deeper”? Will you know and are you thirsting for more?

Just having information about something or someone does not mean that we know. It is our deep understanding and continuous relationship that gives us the knowledge.

I have a friend that I have known for a good while and consider one of my best friends. I will say that I have allowed us to grow distant and our relationship is certainly not what it once was. Due to this lack of relationship, I am not sure what is going on in his life and I am pretty sure he feels the same. I cannot expect to have an eternal knowledge of this friend if I am not in a continuous deep relationship with him.

“²since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” – John 17:2-3 (ESV)

In order to have eternal life, we must know God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. When I speak of knowing, it is a deep understanding and continuous relationship. Even the worst have information about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, what is missing is the understanding of and relationship with them. We have to listen and obey, give our thoughts, and commune with them to grow our relationship. When we dive into that relationship, we are able to experience all that they have for us, including eternal life.

What type of knowledge do you have of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit? How is your relationship with them? Do you know in a way to have eternal life?

I am always amazed that when a child yells for mom (using that term) in a crowd, mom turns around. Not every mom, but mom of the child. She knows the sound of her child’s voice amid the crowd noise and all else that is going on.

“¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” – John 10:14-15 (ESV)

Just as the mom knows, God knows us. When we cry out, he can distinguish our voice and immediately comes to our aid.

Think now of the baby sitter that was hired to care for a child. In a similar scenario of lost in a crowd, the child may only yell for help like every other child. The sitter may not know the voice over the crowd and commotion of the event. The child is aware of who is to be caring for them and yells out the name, the sitter may not be as keen to hear from the child. (Please understand that I am in no way vilifying sitters.)

It is the one closest to the child that comes to the aid, and the child knows if I call for mom (using that term), she will hear me and come running. We know mom and more importantly, mom knows us. God knows us and we know him.

When we are in a situation, are we calling on the one we know? Will we allow God to be the one to come to our aid? Who are you calling out to in your time of need? Do you know God; He knows you.