The body is the temple of God's Holy Spirit, entrusted to us as the first deposit on eternal life. Each individual who makes up the church is a temple of God's Spirit, a profound responsibility that underscores the importance of caring for our physical selves. We are reminded that Christian liberty is not a license to do as we please, and we must consider the effects on our body. As we are bought with a price, under the blood of Jesus Christ, we owe God much more than others, and this debt compels us to glorify God in our body. Taking care of our body is vital, not only to avoid spiritual and physical dangers but to honor the sacred presence of God's Spirit within us. We must be responsible to God, educating ourselves to avoid carelessly making ourselves sick, ensuring that we maintain the temple entrusted to us.

In this exploration of the stewardship of our physical bodies, which are the temples of God's Holy Spirit, we recognize the profound importance of sleep and rest. God Almighty, the author of both sleep and rest, modeled resting on the Sabbath for mankind, establishing a connection between sleep and creativity from the very beginning, as seen when He placed Adam into a deep sleep to form Eve. The Sabbath rest, while ceasing physical work, initiates spiritual work, reflecting the unseen reality of spiritual creation through the physical process of sleep. God created all creatures to require sleep for a healthy life, and disregarding this need has drastic physical and emotional effects. Studies warn that even one night with less than six hours of sleep may alter genes and cause side effects like increased susceptibility to illness and loss of brain tissue. The psalmist David regarded sleep as a blessing and an article of faith in the Lord's protection, a trust mirrored by Jesus Christ, who slept through a turbulent storm, confident in His Father's care. If we ignorantly flaunt God's health laws, mimicking the world's habits, we cannot escape the consequences of self-inflicted physical abuse. For 6,000 years, humanity has cheated itself of God's Sabbath rest and robbed the sleep bank that God mandates we steward. The consequences of sleep deprivation, though not immediately apparent, insidiously affect mood, performance, and health over time, impacting education, work, family, and social life. Disastrous effects of cumulative sleep deprivation include daytime drowsiness, microsleeps, unintended sleep seizures, mood shifts, stress, anxiety, reduced immunity, weight gain, feelings of lethargy, and diminished productivity in cognitive and motor skills. God has determined that we spend approximately one-third of our lives in slumber and one-seventh keeping His sanctified Sabbaths, and attempting to cheat on this sleep-bank by imitating the world's misguided behaviors will lead us to reap the same curses and diseases as the world.

In the stewardship of our physical bodies, which are the temples of God's precious Holy Spirit, we recognize the profound connection between physical and spiritual health. Our bodies, as temples, are to be tended and kept pure, reflecting the indwelling of God's Spirit. The process of fasting serves as a vital means of cleansing these temples, both physically and spiritually, by removing harmful elements and allowing for renewal. Fasting, by restricting food intake, enables the body to cleanse itself of toxins and waste, much like a house-cleaning day for our physical temple. This physical purification mirrors a spiritual process, where we purge the old, corrupt nature and replace it with godly character, empowered by God's Holy Spirit. As we fast, we take a stand against fleshly pulls and the influences of satan the devil, submitting to God and allowing Him to draw near, renewing us with a fresh reserve of His Spirit. This renewal, akin to the physical process of autophagy where old cells are replaced with new, reflects a spiritual transformation. Through fasting, we tear down old habit patterns that enslave us, making way for spiritual growth and the building of holy character in partnership with our Heavenly Father. As described in Scripture, this process involves mortifying the deeds of the flesh and renovating the mind to align with God's will, ensuring that our bodies remain fitting temples for His Spirit. Ultimately, fasting not only benefits the physical temple by promoting health and vitality but also prepares the spiritual temple for eternity. As we engage in this discipline, we acknowledge our dependency on God, allowing Him to transform our mortal bodies into vessels of His righteousness, continually renewed by His Holy Spirit.

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. Your body is the temple, the very sanctuary of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received as a Gift from God. You are not your own; you were bought with a price, purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body. How we treat our bodies demonstrates our loyalty to our Creator and our desire to follow His holy law, which includes physical laws regarding eating, drinking, and exercising. The cause of sickness is the breaking of physical laws set in motion to govern the operation of our human bodies, and the penalty for breaking them is pain, sickness, or possibly even death. As stewards of God's holy temple, we must realize that living exclusively for the present, with the sole focus on satisfying our tissue needs, is idolatry and sin, risking the forfeiture of our future for fleeting joys of today. We have a birthright to protect, far greater than any material possession, and must struggle mightily to preserve this incalculable blessing as God's firstfruits.

In this fourth installment of The Stewardship of God's Temple, we focus on the tending and keeping of our physical bodies, which are indeed the temples of God's Holy Spirit. God Almighty has blessed us with the free gift of life-sustaining water, a vital emblem of His Holy Spirit. From the time of Creation, water has been inextricably connected with God's Holy Spirit, serving as its most important symbol. As God's chosen people, we are mandated to exercise stewardship over this gift that He has bestowed upon us. The Lord who made us has promised to quench both physical and spiritual thirst for the descendants of Jacob, tying the physical and spiritual realities together, identifying His vital role as conduits for the fountain of living waters.

Our bodies belong to God, and He has entrusted their care to us as a stewardship responsibility to glorify Him in both body and spirit. What we do to our bodies either supports or betrays our worship of Christ, as God created man in His image as a bodily being, declaring it very good. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came in the flesh, and in Him the fullness of God dwelled, showing that our bodies have a noble purpose to aspire to His image, glorifying God in our physical form. Care of the body is akin to tending to what is least, yet it is vital, for being faithful in little things demonstrates readiness for greater responsibilities. Neglecting this stewardship, allowing our bodies to deteriorate, is tantamount to willful sabotage of His precious physical creation. Building strong and resilient bodies requires effort, but it is worthwhile, especially in an age where stagnation threatens our physical well-being, reflecting our commitment to prosper in health as our spirit prospers.