The Shape I’m in

MOST OF US ARE not happy with our bodies. We’d like to shed a few pounds—without effort, of course. We wish we had firme muscles or shapelier curves. But what we have is what we’ve got, right?

Now, the Bible says in the beginning God formed Adam “from the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7). But He formed you too. The psalmist echoed, “Your hands made me and formed me” (Psalm 119:73).

So if God formed you, what does that tell you about your body? Clearly, that your body is exactly what God intended for you, to accomplish His unique purpose. We can’t blame God when we don’t take care of ourselves. Because our bodies are tools God has given us to serveHim, we should take care of them for His purposes.

What if you are disabled? Does God still have a purpose for you? Absolutely. When she was a teen, poet Annie Johnson Flint developed crippling arthritis that worsened until her later years; a pencil had to be wedged between her fingers for her to write. Yet she authored more than seven volumes of poetry that have no trace of self-pity or railing against God’s will. She wrote,

God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way.1
Offer your body to the Lord today as a gift, “holy and
pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1). You’ll be amazed with
what He does with it.