October 31. Is There Fuel In The Temple?

We hope you had a safe Halloween event if you celebrated it.  Here is the October 31st devotion which is arriving a day late due to some goblins messing with the technology.

Leadership starts with us, all of us, that includes you and me. Every person is a potential leader, so if it starts with us, it might be that our leadership will be based on our physical and mental capabilities. Our leadership might be limited if our minds are cloudy or if our bodies are full of baggage and disease.

You do not have to be a Mensa member to have a clear mind. A clear mind enhances your ability to reflect, reason, and appreciate your value proposition. You do not have to be a professional athlete to get your body fit. All you must do is start by recognizing it as a piece of being a leader.

Is your mind as clear and your body as ready to lead as your team would like them to be? It might be that either of these two issues are a limiting factor for the team's advancement. It certainly will affect your long-term value proposition for your clientele.

It is difficult to serve if you are hurting, suffering from disease or not at your peak physically. Do you need to put some focus this week on your physical condition? What about your mindset? The physical fitness business has a great hit in January when people are making resolutions.

As a leader, what do you need to do to focus on finishing what you started? 

As Christians, I believe that we have been taught to treat our bodies as if they were Gods’ temple. We read, "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.” Romans 12:1 NLT.

If you have ever worked with a coach or trainer, you know that they push your limits. The stopwatch, the drills and the stretching are all part of the development of your perfectly built biometrically balanced "machine." It takes energy, resources, and maintenance to keep it so.

Just like our faith requires stretching, we should be stretching physically. Our faith deserves attendance in worship and our bodies deserve action and movement which take energy. Is your body the temple that God wants it to be? I think that the punishment of a crucifixion on our Lord's body shows the level of sacrifice God made for us.

Where are you not giving the energy and effort to maintain the "machine” that God created for us to use? Perhaps the way forward is to focus on a single day that you can start something and make it happen. I do not expect that it is reasonable that someone goes from being physically inactive to being physically active every day at a high level.

The ripple effect of change is a great big wave if we attempt it that way. Perhaps a smaller ripple of one day a week would allow us to ride the ripple instead of being overcome by a wave. What is the first thing that you can do about it in the next seven days?

Let us pray, Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of Jesus. When we think about the crucifixion we can think about horror and then love. We cannot fully understand the pain and suffering inflicted on the body of Jesus. But we do know our own bodies, Father. Guide us so that we do not inflict pain and suffering on others or onto ourselves.

Place those around us that might help us to keep our body the temples you would like them to be. Inspire us to fuel our bodies with good energy? Fuel our minds with wisdom from the Bible and discernment from the Holy Spirit. Fuel our hearts with love. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen,