DAILY PRAYER (BY SPURGEON)
Our spirit now anticipates her time of rejoicing when, delivered from the house of clay and from the nature of sin, we shall be forever with the Lord. Yet further, do we anticipate yet more that last Day, when he shall come according to his promise. O Savior, you shall come, as surely as you have come once, you shall come again, and then our bodies, now our burden, shall become our joy, for you will call them, “from beds of dust and silent clay.” You will renew them, you will revive them, and then you will receive us unto yourself to be with you, world without end.
Amen.
VERSE OF THE DAY (COMMENTARY BY SPURGEON)
“I will pay attention to the way of integrity. When will you come to me? I will live with a heart of integrity in my house.” (Psalm 101:2)
Piety must begin at home. Our first duties are those within our own abode. We must have a perfect heart at home, or we cannot keep a perfect way outside of our homes. Notice that these words are a part of a song, and that there is no music like the harmony of a gracious life, no psalm so sweet as the daily practice of holiness. Reader, how fares it with your family? Do you sing in the choir and sin in the chamber? Are you a saint outside and a devil at home? For shame! What we are at home, that we are indeed. He cannot be a good king whose palace is the haunt of vice, nor he a true saint whose habitation is a scene of strife, nor he a faithful minister whose household dreads his appearance at the fireside.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
What does the Bible (really) say about our bodies?
Today, we prayed, looking forward to the day we would dwell with God forever, w its new, renewed bodies. This is a great hope. Our bodies are not incidental to our humanity — and we will live as embodied creatures forever.
There is more confusion surrounding theology of the body/human embodiment than most doctrines today. Our culture’s confusion about sexuality, gender, and the sanctity of human life — as well as “acceptable” sins against the body (lust, gluttony, laziness) — are rooted in bad theology.
We need a better understanding of what our bodies are and how we live as embodied image bearers in a fallen world.
There’s a great new resource available to help you better understand theology of the body and how to teach this important doctrine to your church: Embodied: Living as Whole People in a Fractured World by Gregg Allison.
This book is a valuable resource to the church — it will be well worth your time to read this summer. I studied under Allison in seminary and have benefited tremendously from his instruction on theology of human embodiment. This book will make you love your body and thank God for his glorious design.