Use It Or Lose It

There will be times when she just freezes up, so to speak. She’s not able to move. It’s as though her

legs weigh a hundred pounds a piece. And sometimes she has pain along with it.

Some months ago she said to me, “I sure hope you don’t get this.” And I said, “Mom, I might and who knows? I might get something worse.”

Believe me, I don’t want Parkinson’s disease! And I don’t want something worse than what she has, but we all get some kind of disease or ailment as we age.

ILL.- Back in about 1984/85 I started having a sharp pain in my neck. I know, I know, I’m a pain in the

neck. The pain kept getting worse and especially, when I would go to ball games and yell for my team.

It was like somebody was sticking a knife in my neck. Finally, I had to give up on going to ball games because I couldn’t go and watch and be quiet. NO COMMENT, PLEASE.

I put up with the pain for about 6 months and finally gave in and went to an ear, nose and throat

specialist. I said, “Doctor, what do you think it could be?” He said, “Well, it could be cancer.”

Turned out I had ulcerated nodules on my vocal chords. He prescribed Prednisone and told me to go

home and be quiet. In order words, shut up!

Brethren, I have learned that I must take care of my voice and my vocal chords in order to use them for

the Lord in preaching, teaching and witnessing. I HAVE TO DO THAT BECAUSE MY BODY BELONGS TO GOD, vocal chords and all.

The same is true of you too! Your body, vocal chords and all, belongs to the Lord. Consequently, that

means we must take care of our bodies as best we can since the Lord has the legal title to them.

God wants us to enjoy our bodies and at the same time He wants us to use them to honor Him and serve Him.

We need to take care of our bodies as best we can! We need to get the proper amount of sleep in order to function properly. We need to eat right and get some exercise, if at all possible.

ILL.- Someone asked the other day, “Where’s so and so?” And somebody responded, “She’s overeating.” Someone said, “I do that occasionally.”

She’s overeating. Actually, she meant, “she’s over there eating at that restaurant.” The truth is

sometimes we do overeat and it’s really not good for us. AND I DON’T HAVE ANY ROOM TO TALK, BECAUSE I’M OVERWEIGHT. I’ve gained 10 or more pounds since moving to Mattoon.

It’s not bad, but it could get bad! Lord willing, I’m not going to let it get too bad.

I’m suggesting that we all do a better job of trying to care of our bodies because they belong to God.

And if we want them to function properly and be able to enjoy life and serve the Lord then we must do

something. USE YOUR BODY OR LOSE IT. Or at least, you’ll lose some of it’s ability to function

properly.

II. USE YOUR FAITH OR LOSE IT

ILL.- The following conversation took place between a church member and a minister. The minister asked, “Are you interested in going to heaven?” The church member replied, “What a question to ask me, preacher. Of course, I am interested in going to heaven. That’s the reason I was baptized by old Brother Faithful over at Poney Slab Holler back...well, I just don’t remember when it was.”