Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
- 1 Corinthians 6:18-20
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
- 1 Corinthians 9:24
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
- 2 Timothy 4:7
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
- John 2:19-22
“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
- Luke 14:34-35
Boilerplate
I’m Harold Dykstra. I’m retired, but I go to food bank distributions all over Tracy and talk to people that need someone who will listen to their story. My time is well spent. A police lieutenant suggested that I write down the conversations that I had with an angel. I did not know she was an angel at the time. The angel, for a little over a year, indwelled a life-sized posable action figure my children bought me, so that I would not be perceived as travelling alone. And in a way, she was training me for what I do while talking to the needy. She probed my heart to find out what I believed and how I express love for others. She changed my life. Since she was a doll that had come to life, we came up with the term ‘other living.’ She was not a human, an animal, or even a plant, but she was definitely living, and very vibrant. Oh, excuse me, angels have no gender, but the angel indwelled a doll named Bountiful Babs. After seeing the angel in that form for over a year, I cannot see her in my mind in any other form.
This Week’s Question
In the last episode, Babs visited with the children. Willie felt she could have done more for her mother before she died, but Babs explained how a wife’s place was next to her husband, and that gave her purpose.
But this week, Babs and I went on the shortest trip we’d ever taken together. I went to the doctor, and she came along. I had been going to Dr. Melanie Torme’s clinic since I could get renewed for wearing a respirator mask for work and get an annual check-up at the same time. Besides, I would say as soon as she came into the room, “Isn’t that a Mel Torme song?” She always had Mel Torme music in her office.
Dr. Mel laughed, “I saw you come in with a beautiful lady, so I brought you two coupons for lattes at the coffee shop next door.” If you commented on the ‘Mel Torme’ music, you got a free latte. Dr. Mel’s private joke. She did not advertise it. Dr. Mel turned to Babs, “And who might you be?”
Babs smiled, “My name is Babs. I am Harold’s travel buddy. We are here because Harold has been a little more tired than usual.”
Dr. Mel turned to me with a ‘knowing’ look, “Travel buddy, hunh?”
I nodded, “Not what you think, Dr. Mel. Babs keeps me company. She has an eye out for my blind spots, otherwise, someone to talk to, keep me company, and an extra set of eyes on the highway. That is all.”
Dr. Mel winked at me. I have a feeling that she did not believe a word I said about Babs and I just being platonic buddies. She turned back to Babs, “And Babs, should we start a file on you? I can add you as a patient.”
Babs giggled, “Oh, no, ma’am. I am in perfect health.”
Dr. Mel’s eyes went up and down Babs’ frame. “I can see.” Dr. Mel turned back to me. “Harold, you on the other hand have a bit of a thyroid problem. Have you been gaining weight lately?”
I shrugged, “A few pounds, nothing drastic, but I eat the right food. Since Babs and I are on the road almost all the time, I do not snack. I might have a bagel every now and then, but I stay away from the sweets and avoid sandwiches when I can.”
Dr. Mel nodded, “I am going to add a synthetic thyroxin to your medications. I want you to start taking an iron pill on top of your multivitamin. Take the Thyroid medicine in the morning and do not eat anything for at least thirty minutes. If you mess up and eat something earlier, then wait at least an hour before taking the thyroid medicine. That way, your stomach is empty. This new medication will give you the right thyroxin level to metabolize your food better. That will help you regulate your weight, but do not expect it to get back the way it was. And as your doctor, I have been taught to tell you that synthetic or natural, thyroxin is the same in the bloodstream, but I have enough patients with this problem to know that they all complain of low energy. But do not get the bright idea of taking more of the medication than prescribed. You might lose a pound or two, but then your heart will go a bit crazy and you will end up with more severe problems. Exercise as much as you can and watch your diet. I am going to order more bloodwork for three months from now. You are constantly travelling, right?” I nodded. “I will ask for a follow-up between Christmas and New Years. I hope you can get the bloodwork done a week before. Take care of yourself, Harold, or is that the job for Babs?” She winked.
“Honest, Doctor Mel, we just talk.” I protested. Dr. Mel snickered as she left the office.
On the way home, Babs said, “We need to do some research. I need you on the best diet ever.”
I smiled, ‘Thanks, Babs. I think it is not what I am eating. I am just getting old.”
Babs shook her head, “No, Harold, it is not your time to hang it up, put on a bathrobe, and lounge around the house. But we now have answers to some of our questions.”
I shrugged, “So, what is our Bible study going to be about today?”
Babs asked, “Where does it say that our body is a temple? You need to take care of yours. Does the Bible say that?”
I smiled, “I think that 1 Corinthians 6 is misunderstood. As usual, people read a verse and then misappropriate that verse for their personal cause. Not that their cause is wrong, but verse 18 talks of sexual immorality. Most sins are outside the body, but sexual immorality affects our body. So, for someone to take that out of context and preach about exercise is wrong. The passage has nothing to do with a good exercise regimen. It has nothing to do with eating right. It has nothing to do with avoiding overindulgence.”
Babs gasped and said, “Oh!”
I continued, “All of those things are noble. Paul says we should be fit to run the race, and we should run our race as someone who wants to win the race. But then he tells Timothy that he has fought the good fight. He has run the race. He kept the faith. So, when he talked to the Corinthians about running to win, he was talking about keeping the faith.”
Babs clarified, “But taking your medicine is important. Doing some light exercise is important. Watching what you eat is important. That keeps you healthy and energized to do even more for God, but those verses are not commanding us to exercise and eat properly.”
I nodded, “Yes, you have got it. But then in John 2, Jesus says that this temple will be torn down but it will be rebuilt in three days. Then John said that afterward, when Jesus had been resurrected, the disciples realized that Jesus meant His body. That is Jesus saying that He will die for our sins and be resurrected on the third day. But when we add Luke 14, where Jesus talks about saltiness… If we are salt that has lost its saltiness, we are not fit for much. So, again that does not talk about being in good physical shape, but being in some form of shape that can spread the Light and the Salt of the Gospel to others.”
Babs scrunched her nose, “So, Jesus called Himself the temple that would be destroyed and rebuilt. And we must maintain our saltiness to share the Good News with others.”
I nodded, “Again, you have summarized it quite well, Babs.”
Then Babs began to double over in pain. She was slowly exhaling and inhaling, but I could tell she was in dreadful pain. I pulled over to the side of the road and parked.
I asked, “Babs, I have never seen you in pain before. What is wrong, Babs? Should we run back to Dr. Mel’s office?”
Babs shook her head. “No, Harold. If she ran my vital signs, she would learn that I am ‘other living.’ I just realized what you said at the beginning of our Bible study. That when someone commits sexual immorality, they harm the inner body. The body that I am in was designed from a person who did sexual immorality for a living. Now that I realize that, to stay in this body, I need to be baptized. Harold, go to the Standish Pharmacy and get your prescription. Let’s get some towels to use to dry off and keep the car seats from getting wet. There is a small lake near the pharmacy. Please, Harold, I can withstand the pain of all the sin until you get what we need, but please hurry.”
I pulled out onto the road. I went to the pharmacy, and then I parked at a park where we could wade into the water.
I said, “I do not know how to do this. Your present body may have been designed for naughty things, and designed after someone who was a sinner, but I am not a pastor.”
Babs said, “You have heard the words often enough and you need to pray for Barbara Bounty. You know. I showed you her birth certificate that came with my body. Please, she is hurting. She has not accepted Jesus, but until I get baptized, I will have this pain, and do not ask how I know, but Babs Bounty will be in pain also.”
Babs was right, I had more questions than could ever be answered, but I obeyed, I lowered her into the water saying, “I baptize you in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Upon accepting Jesus as your Savior, your sins are washed away. May Barbara ‘Babs’ Bounty accept You as her Savior and be washed by your cleansing blood so that she too will be saved.”
Babs came up from the water and hugged me. “I am healed, Harold! It’s a miracle, and I feel that by morning, Ms. Bounty will be healed also.”
I had no idea who Ms. Bounty was or where she was, but somehow Babs knew, and I joined in the celebration.
Credits
All these conversations remind me of my conversations with my wife. We would talk about anything and everything. And most of the time, it sounded like a discussion in a Sunday school class.
My wife and I were both sinners. She became fanatical about trying to be more like Jesus, saying that she was ‘dead to such activity that might produce impure thoughts.’ She may not have expressed herself in a way that I fully understood at the time, but the pieces are starting to fit. She was equipping herself to run the race while in her infirmity. Her final race would be when Jesus opened the gates of Heaven and beckoned her to run into His arms. And with a new incorruptible body, she needed no exercise or eating right to run that race to win it.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley 
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