Bought with a price

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. – 1 Corinthians 6.19-20

I can't think of this passage without thinking of pain, and sweat, and maybe tears. It carries my back to PE class in the gym at Tennessee Temple University and Coach Sims’ class. He really sticks out in my memory. He reminds me of Coach Cutlip from The Wonder Years television programme.

Fair play to the guy, he really tried to incorporate the Bible into PE class. While we were doing callisthenics we would have to quote verses. If you didn’t do it fast enough you had to run laps. Everyone wanted to be asked first so they could say ‘Jesus wept.’

Anyway, 1 Corinthians 6.19-20 was our class verse. We quoted it while we ran. We quoted it  while we did push-ups. We quoted it - well you get the idea.

For all of that one thing is certain. That verse has stuck with me. It is a constant reminder of the truth in that my body has a purpose.

My body is not my own. It is not mine to do with whatever I want. My body was bought with a price. Jesus paid for me on the cross.

Therefore my body is something to be protected and cared for. It isn’t something that I should abuse and mistreat.

But because I am bought with a price I have a purpose – to glorify God in my body and my spirit because they belong to Him.

Does the way I treat my body glorify God?

Do the things I do with my body glorify God?

Do the place I go with my body glorify God?

We are not our own. We are bought with a price.

What are we doing about that?

God can use everything, even a nasty, sweaty, painful PE class to teach us.