2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NRSV)
The temporary and the eternal
So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
Reflection
I guess you could say my outer nature is wasting away. It certainly is breaking down. The human body in this fallen world is subject to disease and death and the abuses we put it through. I do have the disease and the wearing down of parts of my body due to age and abuse. This is part of my sinful nature. Did I really take care of this temple God gave me? I think not to the extant God would wish for me to take care of it. In fact I have abused this body.
But there is our inner nature also. Christ has been reviewing this nature day by day. Each day I am visited and God teaches through his Word. I see examples of God's love all around me all throughout the day. There are so many things we can do and say to each other to demonstrate the love of God. And in believing and knowing that Jesus was given for us to save us from our destructiveness, my inner self is certainly being reformed into something new and different.
This gives hope. As the body wastes away, I know that God's love goes beyond the physical nature to my inner self. God is in my gut, God is in my bowels. God is in the center of my being that goes beyond body. God is in me in an eternal sort of way. And for this I say...Thanks be to God!
Prayer
Lord, lift me up and renew me in the deepest sense, the eternal sense. For you alone are my eternal Savior. --- Amen
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