By Doug Creamer
Maintaining the Temple
It’s hard work to maintain our homes. They need repairs and updating. Time takes a toll on our homes and styles change. Regular cleaning takes time and energy. There are weekly chores and seasonal chores that require us to work around the house.
Our physical bodies need maintaining as well. Some people love to work out and maintain their physique. I am not one of them. I do enjoy walking in my community and I like working in my yard. I am not interested in going to the gym or even working out on my own. I do try to take care of myself, just not by going to the gym.
I fell a couple of years ago and have had back problems off and on since the fall. I have been fortunate that a massage therapist could help me when things were hurting. She recently told me that I really needed to get some physical therapy to help fix the root problem. My doctor made a recommendation, and against my wishes I had to start doing some physical therapy. I found out after a couple sessions that my physical therapist is a doctor. I was her first patient to evaluate after being hired. She had just graduated and this is her first full-time job. She evaluated me and found that the muscles in my back were all tight. The exercises she has me doing are designed to stretch those tight muscles out and to strengthen my core muscles.
She will demonstrate what she wants me to do. For some of the exercises I find them challenging and she has to help me keep my body in the right position to benefit. For other exercises I tell her that she has a twenty-something body and I have a sixty-something body that will not do what she just demonstrated. We both laugh and then she makes me do it. She has a great sense of humor and I attempt to keep us both laughing while I am there. I give her fake complaints and she tells me I can do it, which I do. She tells me that my joking around makes the time pass quickly.
One day she had me sit in a chair and “try” to touch my toes. I tried but I couldn’t reach them. She sat beside me and easily touched her toes. I teased her that I probably could have done it when I was her age. Then a woman clearly older than me was asked to do the same thing and she also easily touched her toes, which had everyone laughing. The best laugh I got out of her was when I “complained” that she was trying to give me six pack abs.
Like any good teacher, she gives me homework. She explained early on that I would have to do exercises at home if I wanted to make progress. The homework was challenging at first, but things have gotten easier as I continue to work at them.
While we both like to laugh while I am there, I really appreciate her desire to help me eliminate the pain. The pain will not go away on its own. These same principles apply to our spiritual lives. We aren’t going to grow and maintain our spiritual lives if we don’t put any effort into it. Spiritual growth requires the hard work of self-discipline, dedication to reading the Bible and prayer, connecting with others in fellowship, persevering through the hard times, and building a more intimate connection with God.
Maintaining our spiritual lives takes time and effort. The rewards are incredible because the God who made the entire universe wants to know you and to be known by you. He wants you to discover more about Him. He wants to guide you through the ups and downs in life. He wants to bring comfort and healing to the brokenness in your life. He wants to deepen your understanding that His ways, which are not your ways, are best.
I want to encourage you to take the steps necessary to grow and maintain your spiritual temple. Connect with God because He deeply desires to connect with you. Read the Bible, starting in the New Testament, where you can discover more about Jesus. Pray and talk with God. Attend church where you can connect with others who are on the same journey as you. It will require some effort on your part, but the benefits will last you for all eternity.
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
