Joni And Friends Daily Devotional 30 May 2024, Thursday Message
TOPIC: Take Care of the Temple
“What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” – James 4:14
Remember yesterday I told you about my friend Mike Yuen, who donated his kidney to his brother, Geoff? As I write this, two years have passed since the surgery. And the news is not good. It’s been the typical transplant rejection, coupled with complications from diabetes. Geoff is aware that he is dying. And it’s hard.
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It’s hard for Mike too. He was asked, “Would you give your kidney again, knowing now the outcome?” His answer gripped me: “I would do it again without hesitation because I’m grateful that Geoff has had two strong years, with more time to come. Most of all I’m grateful that in the year following the surgery, Geoff came to Christ.”
Mike had something else to say: “I’ve learned we’re not in control of life, and it’s arrogant to think we are. Each day is a precious gift from God we shouldn’t waste. We have a purpose in this life, so let’s not neglect it. Secondly, we can’t take health for granted. While we do not have control over whether or not we contract cancer or have a disabling accident, there’s much we can do to take care of what we have—we owe it to those who love us and depend on us, and we owe it to God who created us.”
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16). Too many of us take better care of our cars than we do our bodies. We can affix a dollar figure to a luxury automobile, but who can put a price on the ability to see, hear, think, walk, and talk?
What can you do today to better maintain your physical health? Have you been putting off a checkup? Ignoring your body’s warning signals? As a Spanish proverb says, “From the bitterness of disease man learns the sweetness of health.”
Lord, you’ve given me so much, when I think of all the things my body can do. I bless you for the gift of good health—I commit myself to taking better care of the temple you have given me.
Joni Eareckson Tada is an American evangelical Christian author, radio host, artist, and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization “accelerating Christian ministry in the disability community”.
