Side-tracked

Side-tracked: Cause (someone) to be distracted from an immediate or important issue.

We are only 8 days into the new year and I am already writing about being side-tracked. How sad is that? I think the fact that I am writing about it though is a good sign because at least I am aware it is happening. I made some resolutions in the blog in late December preparing for 2012 and I was very adamant that this year, I would get my life on track spiritually and healthfully. I believe that you can't be truly healthy without a healthy spirit and you can't be spiritually healthy without a focus on your physical body. I am not claiming that to be biblical truth but I know they have gone together in my life in the past.

I find that when I am obeying God and living in the Word, my care of my body follows suit. I tend to eat better, exercise, and not put so much garbage into my body. I also do better to be at Dr's appointments and take better care of my diabetes. As a matter of fact, the definition of health is as follows:

Health: the state of being free from illness or injury.

I think that this being true we can take this definition and apply it to all areas of our lives; mental health, spiritual health, and physical health...even relational health. In the same portion of scripture in 1 Peter 2:11-25 it talks about spiritual health in "Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors..." and later in the verses it says "By his wounds, you are healed." There is spiritual health verses as well as physical health verses in this block of verses. I don't think that is coincidence. God has spoken pretty clearly to my spirit that to be connected with GOD goes hand in hand with being connected with SELF.

All of that to say this, I am feeling side-tracked. Lately I have not been doing a great job at taking my meds, exercising, eating right, or even getting enough sleep. It is imperative that I start to look at my maintenance of physical health as an area of obedience to God. Another verse that pops into my mind is this one...

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repent." Luke 5:27-32

Jesus' words illustrate his point using physical health as an example of spiritual health. He incorporates the two and my spirit seems to as well. I don't feel as connected to Jesus if I have been unkind to my body. This is how I am feeling these last couple of days. I have been avoiding some pain in my body for fear of what the Dr. might say, not doing the greatest at choosing healthful foods and certainly not sleeping as much as my body needs to recover from a day.

The verse that stuck out to me today while researching this was:

Romans 12:1

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice -- the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

Upon reading this verse, my heart breaks as all I want in my life is to worship God with every facet of my being. I want to worship him through my behavior, attitudes, relationships, and body. This verse clearly illustrated for me why this feels so tied into my spirituality....because it is. So many times I have compartmentalized God into his "spiritual" box and gone on with life but as he has matured me, I am no longer able to do that. I am only able to allow him into every dusty corner of my life including those that I believe have NOTHING to do with spiritual matters. I am glad I got side-tracked as I never would have been searching for His thoughts on this today. Again, a verse God gave me in my search for His voice today;

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 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, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

My body has always been an issue. It was an issue in childhood as it was being hurt by others and I grew to not value it due to them not valuing it. It was an issue in teenage years as everyone around me (it seemed) was throwing their bodies around for others to use and I started to abuse food to get away from that idea. In early adulthood, I was the one who was abusing it while I tried to figure out my twisted relationship with my body and food. As I learned I was diabetic and tried to figure out what that meant for the Holy Spirit's temple, my denial began the destruction of my body little by little. I think if I stop seeing it as "mine" and start seeing it as the Lord's, I may treat it a bit better.

Here is to hoping that writing about being Side-tracked gets me back on the right track!