My favorite one when I look back was this silver Buick we had. I don't know what kind of Buick it was but it was huge. It similar in size of the car to the left (though not as fancy). I'd love to have that car again. You could fit eight adults in it comfortably -- four in the front and four in the back. And if someone was particularly very skinny we could fit nine! Boy, that car cruised. It was like driving down the road in your living room.
The reason I bring old cars up is the reason for this post -- something we all have heard but we brush off like we know and we're doing what we can but hey, life happens.
But I'm going to say it again because I finally am trying to listen and maybe you need to listen too. Bodies are like cars. The older they get the more maintenance they need. And no one else can do it for us. We have to be the lead on maintaining our own bodies. Just like cars, they need more tune-ups, more repairs. It costs more; it takes more time; it takes more effort to keep the body working properly.
And we each are different. You know your strengths and your weaknesses. You can't allow those weaknesses to go unaddressed. You've got to take particular care with the areas of your person that break down easily. In 1 Corinthians 12, Apostle Paul is talking about the Body of Christ and our spiritual gifts (as they are given for the "common good"), but what he says applies to our individual person too. He writes in 1 Corinthians 12:22,24-25, "it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary . . . But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, that there should be no division in the body,, but that the members should have the same care for one another,"
Okay, as I was copying that down I thought, "Will anyone figure out the connection here or is it just connecting in my own brain?"
But I'm going to try and explain it because as I was typing the verses a new idea came to mind -- it says the ones that seem weaker are the necessary ones. Necessary means "required" according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Meaning that the one we see as the weakest might in fact be the most necessary. Now, all the parts of the body are necessary but there are some parts you can learn to live without. A person can have her gall bladder, her appendix, one of her kidneys; an arm, leg, hand or foot (or all of them); a few ribs, a lung, hair, eyes, ears, even the nose. All of these we need and life is better if we have all these working parts, but if we have to, we can learn to live without them. But we can't live without a brain. We can't live without a heart (though our hearts can be replaced, but you need a heart). We can't live without a lung. You get the idea.
So now, take it another step. Let's say you are one of the many thousands upon thousands of people who has heart disease. In order to keep your heart healthy, you have to take you medication, get exericse, eat right, keep away from stress and whatever else your doctor tells you to do. It is a lot of work. But maybe because you have to give your heart such care your heart and all it needs for you to do, is crucial to the person you are.
Mine is my brain. My brain drives me crazy (oh that is funny. I hate the phrase "no pun intended" for why say that...there I go again on a tangent). There are days I absolutely hate my brain. It is the part of me that breaks down easily. It needs more care then the rest of me. If my brain is functioning well I feel well. If it isn't, my entire body hurts and the entire world is horrendous. But God has told me before and I often have to remind myself that He gave me the brain He did for a reason -- that it is exactly the right brain for me and for how He uses me in this life.
Well, anyway, I better close. This has gotten to be long and I'm driving my family crazy and I have used almost every single dish in my kitchen today. It is a disaster!!! This is Crazy Brain Jane signing off!