God of the Living

"He is not God of the dead but of the living, for to Him all are alive." Luke 20:38

Do we really realize that 100% of us, with no exception, are going to die? This body which we take so much care of, is decaying, even as we breathe.

St. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 4:8, "For bodily exercise and discipline is of some value, but Godliness and spiritual training is profitable, has value for all things in every way, for it holds promise for the present but also for the life to come."

I can't help comparing the time we spend for our bodies (eating, dressing up, putting on make-up, buying clothes and shoes, exercising, etc.) with the time we spend tending our spirits. Our body is not who we are. When we take care of our body, we are taking care of a temporary thing, a decaying thing. But when we take care of our spirits, we take care of the eternal. C.S. Lewis wrote the memorable words: “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal….But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

Jesus, as He was on the cross, called out, "Father, into Your hands, I commit my Spirit." To commit means to entrust for safekeeping. Jesus didn't say, "I commit my body", because He knew He would get a brand new one as He did when He rose from the dead. It was so easy for His Father to gloriously recreate Jesus’ mangled and bloody body, just as He will for us one day.

Do we spend more time taking care of our physical bodies than we do for our true selves, our spirits? Let's take stock of our priorities!!! Of course we prefer one day to be an everlasting splendor and not an immortal horror! Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit!