Fearfully And Wonderfully

What Great Design!

Over the past few weeks I've seen five medical specialists. This is just part of getting older, and some might say, also from having lived life a little faster than would have been wise. Happily all the doctors were very positive about my wellbeing and immediate future; the bones guy even said that I was "going great"! This helps me to continue to do the things that I am doing right, like eating well and not too too much, exercising and keeping my head busy.

As I received each of these good reports I would wonder at my old worn body and think about Jesus: "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are marvelous, I know that full well" (Psalm 139:14).

What great design! What fabulous engineering! And it's (largely) self-maintaining, (largely) self-repairing. Our bodies can convert countless kinds of delicious foods into fuel, and we can even (help) make the next generation of our families!

In my many years I have worn out bikes and cars, cassette and CD players, and skill-saws, and so very many pairs of boots and pants but most of me is still working fine. Sure, I'm not as strong or as fast or as nimble as I once was, but here are some things I still delight to do:

Hang Out

Sedentary things are easy; reading is a joy, studying is a vital part of life, and I enjoy music and movies and TV and hanging out with people.

Get About

I can get about: I walk a lot for housework and getting-on-with-life. The last time I ran for a bus was my last run, thank you. But riding a bike is fun and I can drive cars, busses, trucks and tractors, without prescription glasses!

Sport

Most sport is past tense for me: overnight hikes, sailing, basketball and tennis. But I can still row a machine at the gym and hike in the bush for an hour or two, and I love to walk in our local community pool or along the sea shore.

Work:

Now that I'm a househusband work is quieter, thankfully I'm still a handyman. But no more battling through committee meetings, preparing complex designs or reports or managing staff. No more operating huge mining machines or laying kilometres of farm fencing. In my twenties I spent time in a factory manufacturing farm fencing; one afternoon I put my back out, my boss noticed that my machine was not making its hard-at-work sound so investigated. There I was on the ground curled into a tight ball, completely unable to move. One of my workmates backed his station wagon into the factory and four guys picked me up, just as I was, slid me into the back of the wagon and took me to the hospital. The doctors said they couldn't do much, I had to rest and progress through my physio, but after a few weeks I was back at work (almost) as good as new. Talk about great design and engineering - our bodies truly are "fearfully and wonderfully made"! Another time I was in a car crash, they did a good (and expensive) job fixing the car but it was never the same again and I was happy to sell it. But my amazing body, I'm so very glad and grateful to still live in it.

"For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church" (Ephesians 5:29).

Love:

"God is love" (1 John 4:8, 4:16), and because we are made in the "image" and "likeness" of God (Genesis 1:26), who is Elohim, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are made for love and family and for relationship. Praise Jesus that I still have the strength and energy to be family with my family, and to share in so many relationships .. this adds a great beauty to life. "Love" is a "doing word", a verb. It takes effort and often sacrifice to love. Scripture tells us: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25), so I do ..

Love comes in many forms and it is good to know how to be in different relationships. Trish and I agree that marriage is hard work but extremely rewarding, after 38 years our love, and our relationship are still growing. I believe that this is as close as we humans can get to the uniquely intimate and caring relationship between our Abba Father God, our Saviour Jesus, His Son, and our Comforter and Counsellor, Holy Spirit; these are three persons yet one God.

Many times the Bible tells us that it is what is in our heart that is important. So true. Our relationships are fueled from our heart so I remind myself to dwell on positive things, and not on the negative; a friend said that I am getting sweeter as I grow older; I was greatly touched by that remark! Me? Sweet? How lovely! What a great work our lovely Lord is doing in me. "How precious is your unfailing love, O God! We take refuge in the shadow of your wings" (Psalm 36:7). Ultimately love is what equips each of us to be fully human.

Spiritual Life:

Now that I'm convinced that my spirit is the most important part of me, I worry less about my body and try to balance my living towards Jesus rather than towards my own self. I'm coming into line with how Paul felt as he wrote to the Philippians: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (1:21).

Part of a Christian life is constant learning and I've always seen that Christians never stop studying; we are like those amazing redwood trees Trish and I saw in California, (that is her, by the tree), they start so tiny and grow and grow!

Our salvation happens in an instant, then the rest of our life we are being sanctified; this is where learning and growth are so important. Jesus always has more to teach us and learning becomes part of the "exercising of our minds".

Because I'm now more sedentary I have more time to read and pray and praise Jesus. This makes it easy to be positive and to be very grateful for how I'm made and how He has kept and preserved me ..

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’. [And]: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31).

Amen!

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Praise Jesus.