Why? Why do you work out so hard?

Today’s devotion comes to us from Carol McMahon!  Carol is a dedicated disciple of Christ who is a member here at the United Methodist Church at Absecon.  She serves as our Lay Member at Annual Conference, and she is a certified Lay Servant in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference.  Carol also sings in our Senior Choir and takes care of our email prayer chain.

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I get asked that question all the time.  I also get asked why I constantly try to eat as healthy as possible. As it happens, I love working out. I love moving my body. I love physically challenging my body.  I love seeing gains in strength.  I love being able to do what people think that I can’t or shouldn’t be able to do.

I have always loved being outside riding my bike or going for walks.  Especially when we lived within three or four blocks of the beach growing up. I loved riding my bike up to the wall, parking my bike and then walking on the rocky beach.  High tide was the best.  There’s nothing like the sound of crashing waves on a rocky beach.

 I loved low tide as well.  My favorite low tides were on hot summer days.  I would breathe in deeply, the wonderful scent of the muddy salt flats.  To this day, I open my windows during low tide if there is a nice, strong bay breeze. And breathe, breathe very deeply!

People ask me why. Why do I listen? Why do I breathe so deeply? Why do I love working out and being in the gym? Why do I take such care of my body? Why? Because, God gifted me this body.  It’s the only one that I have. It’s the only that I will have for my journey on the planet. I can’t change which body I have.  But I can take good care of the body that I have. I can be committed to having the use of this body as long as possible. I can use and move it to do good for and in God’s name.

So yes, I love to work out. I love to stay strong. I love to eat as healthfully as possible. I do it to be able to do what needs to be done for others. It is very frustrating when I am unable to do what I have planned to help others. I can drive. I can lift heavy things. I can listen. I can be.

So, on a day that is a struggle. Struggle to move. Struggle to lift your arms or move your legs, struggle to fuel your body with healthy foods, remember whose you are. Do what you can and do it in God's honor. Take care of yourself so that when called upon to do so, you can take care of others. Be the face, hands, and feet of God for those in your life.

VBS was a great example of bodies allowing people to be the hands and feet of God. To do God's work and share his word and message with people of all ages. It was refreshing to watch the video snippets through the week and again on Sunday morning. We had youth and adults of all ages using the gifts, talents, and bodies that they were given to share God with others.
All joking aside, our bodies are temples. Gifts from God to be used to further his cause. Please take care and honor God!

- Carol McMahon

Dear God, thank you for our bodies. Each one is different just like all the unique snowflakes. but each one of us has a job to do with the bodies that we were given. May we honor you in all that we do and say.  In your son's name we pray. Amen!

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.

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