Conviction hit. How did I get here?

10% more body fat than is healthy
Stiff as a board from sitting at a computer too long
Oh, Lord – I wanna be strong

I used to be healthy, fit, a runner who eagerly laced up each day to let of steam, stress and grumpiness with each stride I took. The woes of the day melted away as I ran along, listening to the song of nature, God’s birds cheered me on, running strong, seeing this glorious land God created for us to relish. I’d built a glorious temple that was 15.5% body fat and extremely fit.

Yet somewhere along the path between then and now, I made a decision to skip a day, then two and healthy slipped away, one little decision, dessert and delay at a time.

Does any of this resonate with you?

Last week I heard someone joke, “I’m so proud, the earrings I wore in high school still fit.” My oh my, conviction hit hard again! I was FIT then, now I was not. Dang, I don’t wanna even type the word FAT…

Here’s the deal, it’s not condemnation, it’s CONVICTION that hit! That’s from God – to wake us up to the need to change.

19 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, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)

God bought you with a high price.

Oh Jesus! Thank You. May I return to honoring You and You alone? I do not belong to myself. Wow, sure have been acting like whatever choice I made didn’t matter.

How wrong was my thinking?
How long have I missed this point?
And how many other instructions from God have I overlooked – or ignored?

Yes, conviction hit…hard!

16 Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17 God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 (NLT)

I sure wasn’t living like that, Lord. I have defiled Your holy place with food and failure to honor this temple You reside in, Holy Spirit.

It’s not just dusty corners, it’s crusty, icky, sticky stuff I’ve gotta work hard to remove. Kinda like that baked on residue on a stove…HARD to get off, but so pretty when it’s design is fully restored. Yea, it’s time to restore God’s design here. Fit. Healthy. Wholesome.

God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple.

I had missed that verse totally. I lost 5 sizes several years ago and it’s time to finish what I started. I MUST make a change in my thoughts and actions, as I do not want to be destroyed – by disease, stress or obesity. They are not of God, yet I had fallen into the temptation of the flesh far too often.

A friend shared she was committed to a 90 day fitness challenge. If she can, so can I! So in I jumped, like a cannonball. Splash! As long as I don’t hit the wall and go splat, we’ll be good, right?

I’ll share updates as we go through this 90-day challenge. 3 days in and my triceps are burning. I know what that means – these flappy turkey wing arms will melt and mold into toned ones, as long as I consistently make one healthy decision at time.

The decision? Honor God’s Holy Temple. Sweep out the junk and rebuild it – not for my vanity – for His glory.

How much work was required to build the original Temple of Solomon? How hard did they labor to construct the glorious Temple where God resided? Oh, how I want You to be fully present in me, Lord.

13 Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel. 14 He sent them to Lebanon in shifts, 10,000 every month, so that each man would be one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of this labor force. 15 Solomon also had 70,000 common laborers, 80,000 quarry workers in the hill country, 16 and 3,600 foremen to supervise the work. 17 At the king’s command, they quarried large blocks of high-quality stone and shaped them to make the foundation of the Temple. 18 Men from the city of Gebal helped Solomon’s and Hiram’s builders prepare the timber and stone for the Temple.
1 Kings 5:13-18 (NLT)

A massive labor force was created to begin the work of building the Temple. Yet it didn’t start with erecting stone and timber, it started with cutting the timber and shaping the stone to lay a strong foundation.

3 A voice cries out,
“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;
construct in the desert a road for our God.
Isaiah 40:3 (NET Bible)

In my wilderness, I must clear a way for the Lord. I’m a labor force – of one determined woman. It feels like a desert I’m entering. My task?  Clear a road in this desert for my God to enter the temple I’m building for Him – instead of reaching for dessert.

Thank You, Lord God Almighty for showing me the way – The Way – to Your heart is obedience. Yes indeed, You paid a high price for me.

It’s past time for me to make time to (re)build Your Temple, Lord, honoring the One who paid the price for me.

I trust You will be with me every step of the way, guiding me and urging me on as I embark on a new path, a healthy path, a pathway of honor, Lord.

A side note – I looked up lunge in the Bible and found men lunging at Lot to break down the door in Sodom and Gomorrah. Is that how I felt about lunges – that they were from the evil one? Or was that simply a flimsy excuse?

So laugh with me and cheer me on as I tackle the construction of this temple for the Lord.

Did I mention I believe lunges and squats are stops along this new path?

Will there be pain? Probably. Growth requires I move out of my comfort zone, stop conforming to the patterns of my current life and move in a new direction – to the gym with a solid plan in hand, conviction in my heart and cheerleaders surrounding me, like the sideline chorus on race day.

When you wake up, think about winning the day. Don’t worry about a week or a month from now. Just think about one day at a time.

Join me?

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