Who are you?
When you think about the description of yourself, I wonder if the first things that come to mind have anything to do with your physical appearance.
Tall.
Short.
Fat.
Skinny.
Black skin.
Brown skin.
White skin.
Muscular.
Feeble.
Ugly.
Pretty.
It’s no secret that humans tend to associate their identity with their body and the overall appearance or condition of it.
We also consider our jobs, hobbies and interests as further descriptions, but our identity foundations are usually made up of all things that have to do with our body.
Don’t believe me?
Consider this!
What do most people focus on before they go to school or work, in the morning?
They tend to their body’s health, condition and appearance.
They feed their body to keep it healthy and happy.
Perhaps, they work out to condition their body.
They also clean and dress themselves as they see fit for the occasion.
They pass by that mirror several times before presenting themselves to the world.
The morning routine of the average person reveals what they would consider most important to care for, before they join society for the day.
We all choose to care for the condition and appearance of our body.
Why?
Because who we are is greatly impacted by the health, condition and appearance of our body.
Our most crippling insecurities are associated with the body.
If someone doesn’t like the fact that we like to knit in our free time, it won’t bother us as much as if people don’t like our appearance or body condition.
This is because
we associate our identity with our body.
This structure composed of the perfect mix of 99% oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus while the rest is composed of potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium.
206 bones; 300 million capillaries; all of those capillaries, along with arteries and veins, being 60,000 miles long.
(That is long enough to span around the earth 2 and half times.)
100 trillion cells including bacterial cells!
6 quarts of blood.
Approximately 800 muscles, each connected to the skeleton by incredibly strong cable-like substances called tendons, and the skeleton held together by the most durable yet elastic glues fathomable, called ligaments and joints.
Roughly 40 glands and 40 major organs, not including the systems that help these organs communicate with each other.
An average of 20lbs of fat beneath the 3-layered, 20-square foot, and approximately 20 pound organ, called skin, draped over these systems.
The dead skin cells that make up our nails and hair.
Pigments called melanin, which add radiantly diverse colors to the skin, as well as darken our lips and color our hair.
That melanin is also used in the iris of the eye, to make stunning and uniquely painted designs, which frame beautifully the 130 light sensitive cells in our eyes.
A smile!
A mouth that not only consumes matter but speaks and sings miraculous melodies that captivate the listeners!
I could truly go on forever!
How some people can think that this just fell together one day, is beyond me…
(I won’t expand on this subject on this particular post.)
This marvelous structure we identify ourselves as, is purely a work of art!
However,
it is not us!
We miss the whole point if we believe that our identity and who we are begins with our vessel!
I don’t blame anyone for wanting to identify as such a remarkable piece of machinery and craftsmanship, but it will mentally, emotionally and spiritually derail us, if we don’t realize that…
Who we are,
Has almost NOTHING to do with our bodies!
Everyone dies and leaves behind this vessel.
It’s marvel and wonder only live, if we live inside.
When we leave this vessel, it doesn’t continue to run.
It may look like a good vessel for a short while after we leave, but eventually it deteriorates and all the amazing things about it turns back into dirt.
This vessel isn’t us because it will exist for a little while after the sign of our presence in it, is gone.
When we depart, we leave this vessel behind because even it wasn’t ours to begin with.
Our body is separate from us!
If this still doesn’t make sense,
Here’s an example!
Our body is like a car!
It’s carrying us through this life.
Our body is how we get around on earth, similarly to how a car helps us get around.
We typically don’t go without it.
Though we spend a lot of time in the car, we personalize the car and care for the car…
it is not us!
You would never describe yourself as a red, two-door, convertible…
Because your identity has nothing to do with your car.
I want to take this analogy one step further.
Your body is like a car, but here is the part that is difficult to accept…
But it’s true.
This car is not YOUR car!
You didn’t buy or rent or build this car!
This car is the company car!
The Kingdom of Heaven sent you as an ambassador to represent the Kingdom, serve and do a specific job; and like any good job, they provide you with a company car to get the job done!
God did this for us!
He didn’t send us on an assignment without a way to get around, in order to do the job.
He let us have free access to this company car, which He built and paid for.
We get to use it throughout the duration of the assignment that He sent us on.
This assignment required a vehicle so God provided one!
Yet we treat this company car as if it was ours.
We trash it and forget that one day, when the assignment is over, we will have to return the car to the One who issued it.
I wouldn’t want to see the Boss’s face when He sees how we chose to manage the company cars.
We just want to cruise through life, carefree and aimless.
However, there is a huge responsibility that comes with this vehicle;
A responsibility that we oftentimes are unaware of.
There are rules when you use the company car!
These rules are to protect the investment that the Kingdom made in this car.
It would be wasteful and inefficient to allow your workers to trash the company cars.
These cars cost a great amount and it means a lot to the Investor to protect His investment, especially since He also built it.
It means a lot to the Creator and He doesn’t wish to see what He built, and allowed you to utilize, ruined because you didn’t value His investment as much as He did!
That’s what this body is!
God treasures this body!
He created you from His own breath but He spent such time and effort and love to prepare a vehicle for you to use while on assignment for the Kingdom.
This is why we ought to take care of this vessel!
It’s not our property!
It’s a privilege to utilize this vehicle so we must not believe that this is our property because we don’t steward well what belongs to us.
Whenever we declare something as ours, we find reason to neglect and abuse it because there is no one to be held accountable to in regards to the condition of the item.
When everything isn’t our property, we take care of it, knowing that one day we will need to return it!
God doesn’t give us anything to own except the
grace and mercy of God through Jesus crucified.
Other than that, He only lets us borrow what is His while we are out here on assignment for the Kingdom.
We will be held accountable for the condition of the things our God let us borrow and utilize.
This is why God set guidelines for our vessels so we steward the things He let us borrow so when we return them, they are not ruined.
God doesn’t need to recycle our bodies or anything, He just values what He creates!
He has unlimited resources because He is God, but He fully appreciates and values everything that He creates; so He tells us to honor and respect what He creates as well.
God is merciful and will forgive us for trashing His company car, but I would honestly rather return His things in a nice manner.
Though He is forgiving, I don’t want to destroy someone else’s valued creation.
If God truly put His heart into His creations, each and every one of them,
how could I feel okay destroying them with my carelessness?
This is a reason to steward your body and everything God allows us to use!
It’s not ours, we were trusted to care for it and so we must treasure it!
Furthermore,
your worth is not in your company car or what you do to it.
Your identity, is not the vessel!
God is the only one who sees the trueness of your spirit and your spirit is who you really are!
Your identity is solely in Christ and your identity is not what you use during this assignment! You have a job to do and that’s way more important than the vehicle you are utilizing while doing it!
Your beauty and worth is in your spirit and that is who you are!
When your vessel turns to dirt, your spirit remains! So if you’re concerned about anything, be concerned about what your spirit looks like, and since God is the only one who sees the real you, your spirit, desire it to be beautiful for Him!
Care for the vehicle that God created for you but don’t identify yourself as the vehicle,
because who you really are is far more valuable and beautiful to God!
Photo by Adi Perets
