his is supposed to be the last installment on a series of articles on the subject of stewardship…but even so, I feel that there is one more to go after this. No doubt that this topic has made a great impression in my life in terms of purpose pursuit. We all know that purpose discovery (which will be our next series) takes time. This then does not mean that we do nothing between now and the time that our purpose is discovered. [ictt-tweet-inline]Stewardship enables us to be good in what is available today so as we can link up to what we were called to do.[/ictt-tweet-inline]
I am going to make a startling statement to kick us off as we finish this series on stewardship. Listen carefully. [ictt-tweet-inline]The body is the sole conduit through which the universe is governed[/ictt-tweet-inline]. Now stop and think about that for a minute. The only legitimate entity on earth is the physical human. Much as some people think that the world is one dimensional, they would be wrong. We have the spiritual as well as the physical. Think about it. If any form of the spiritual (whether good or bad) needed to influence the universe in anyway, those forces (however powerful they might be), would never do it without the participation of the body!
Two life changing stories typify my assertion. The fall of man in the garden is documented to have been orchestrated by the devil…in the form of a serpent. That’s a physical body. So complete was God’s decision to only use the body on earth that it cost Him an incarnation. God himself would not orchestrate any influence on earth as a Spirit. He had to become Flesh and dwell among us, walk where we walk and feel what we feel. Can you see how powerful the body is?
Let me say it once more emphatically: The only legal entity that is permitted to transact on the earth is the body! Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that the body is what makes decisions. Rather I am saying that existence on the earth is through the body. My body is the house in which I live. I am not my body, but the body is my house. When this body is through with it’s function on earth, I still will be alive…but I digress.
So therefore it begs the question: How serious have we been in stewardship of the physical body? I have never met a human being, and probably there will never exist of one who achieved their purpose outside of the body. Now, that is not to say that there is no out of the body experience. It is there, but not for the time being. We have been put here on earth to accomplish a purpose, but we can only do that while in the body! In other words, [ictt-tweet-inline] “If our bodies are not in the top notch condition to function, we cannot fulfill our given purpose.”[/ictt-tweet-inline].
And yet, it is so easy to take the body for granted:
There are only three main things that we need to do when it comes to stewardship of the body: Rest, Nutrition and Exercise.
Stewardship of our body is straight forward. Nutrition is important. We know the adage: Eat breakfast like a King, lunch like a princess and dinner like a pauper. In other words, we watch the way we feed ourselves. Most importantly the content of what we eat daily has to be watched. It has to be balanced diet. In summary, let’s do the following with nutrition:
No, I did not come up with this. God did. It is even a command to rest. That’s how important the body is. We know of people who have had their purpose curtailed because they refused to rest. [ictt-tweet-inline]Our take on rest should be that it is as productive as working, otherwise, we won’t take it.[/ictt-tweet-inline]
When people hear about physical exercise, they immediately think of strenuous weight lifting at the gym. They look around and see that they do not have money to buy jogging shoes, let alone pay membership fee at the gym. This is a misconception. There are very many things you can do without spending a single cent, yet keep your physical body in a top fit condition. The secret is intentionality and consistency.
Talking about purpose, we know that it takes time for most of us to discover why were are here on earth. The bridge that links us to our purpose is stewardship, for it allows us to be excellent in the present so we can qualify for the future assignments. Stewardship of our physical bodies is an absolute must each week that we are alive. It is the most immediate thing that we have been called to do. Let’s get it done.