He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. —Jim Elliot
Imagine you’re sitting in the office of your family physician… but this isn’t just any doctor. It’s the office of the Great Physician. You thought it was just a routine visit to make sure everything is okay with your body, but with gentle and serious eyes, God asks you to sit down.
“I’ve got good news and bad news,” He starts… and deep inside, you know He isn’t making a joke.
Might as well start with the bad news?
Your body will deteriorate.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)
When I was in college, I set a life goal for myself: To be able to dunk a basketball on my 50th birthday. The week of my 30th birthday, I got an excruciating pain in my lower back. Turns out I have three bad discs in the lower portion of my spine.
At the beginning of my 45th year, I decided to get serious about dunking that basketball again. With a fresh New Year’s resolution, I set out on a short run on January 1. “Pop!” By the middle of January, I was on the operating table repairing a torn meniscus.
Just before I hit the big 5-0, I actually dunked for the first time in 13 years. I worked really hard toward it, and I was pretty pumped. But I also know it was just a temporary accomplishment.
2 Corinthians 4:16, indeed. Yeah, there is plenty of bad news, but there is amazingly good news, too. In the days ahead, may we get a clearer, truthful diagnosis through God’s Word!
Great Physician, thank You for our life-sustaining bodies. Use the reality of my deteriorating body to teach me about life. I don’t want to lose heart. Renew my soul daily, Lord, as I look toward my future on earth and beyond. Amen.