Body Matters

   One of my Christian friends has been using and enlisting others in a keto diet plan that involves supplements and coaching. Basically you eat meat and veggies, but you are also supposed to recruit others in what sounds like a pyramid scheme. Perhaps a food pyramid scheme? A number of our church members are on the diet and have lost impressive amounts of pounds and found some health benefits. But losing more weight does not equal gaining more health. My 95 year old Dad is skin and bones yet his BMI categorizes him as overweight, however, only a concentration camp doctor would advise him to lose more weight. I am happy for the success of those who have struggled with their weight for years, but I have a hard time finding eternal value in it, especially in view of the following.

   Tracy lost 30 lbs. years ago by giving up sugar. While attending college in Helena, he got up at 5 a.m. twice a week to go to a fitness club and exercise before 7 a.m. class. He was in terrific shape when he died. We live in a culture that believes thin=healthy and that we determine our lifespan by a disciplined lifestyle. Christians know better, but we still get sucked in by media, by doctors who drink the thin=healthy kool-aid, and by our friends. L___ has a right to post anything she wants on Facebook, but for someone who spent years teaching the Bible and serving the Lord in many other areas, a Christian who has gone through some deep family trials, it seems a shallow testimony to spend her retirement years obsessing (her word) about weight. These are not the bodies we keep, they are on loan. On some unknown day, despite our most rigorous efforts, our bodies will return to the earth and our spirits return to their maker.

   I will admit here on my blog that I am a vain person and I am frustrated with the changes age has brought to my body, but I do not post that sin openly on Facebook and I am not encouraging my friends to join me in it. As someone who has traveled and spent a fair amount of time in hotels and rental cars, this is my perspective:

 

 

Our bodies are like rental cars.

We ought to be good stewards of them, 

keep them fueled, clean 

and in good running condition.

   But there's no point in having the dents fixed,

   or body work done because

      at the end of our lives

      all bodies return to the manufacturer.

Every . . . last . . .  one

So it doesn't really matter

if this body is size 4 or 24,

whether you can hike 20 miles or 20 yards,

or whether you look youthful or toothless.

   Such things matter only in this world.

   They have no eternal value because

        despite diet, doctors, and diligent exercise

        these are not the bodies we keep.

 

Every . . . body . . . dies

   I know that when L___ gets to heaven, she will be commended for the many ways she has been a blessing to others and honored God, but I'm pretty sure wearing a size 4 won't be one of them. That body is one of the many earthly things we leave behind. God will replace the rental unit we use now with a resurrected body we wear for eternity. That is the body that matters.