The Body

When I stop to ponder it, I am amazed by the working of the human body.  Right now, as I type, my brain is sending messages to my fingers about which keys to hit, information stored in my memory many years ago and available instantly at a single thought.  My heart is also pumping blood to every part of my body, with very little awareness on my part that it is even doing so.  Last night while I slept, I continued to inhale and exhale while my conscious self was completely oblivious.  I could go on.  It’s absolutely amazing.

And this working of the human body is used in Scripture to metaphorically describe Christ and the church.  When the church actually works like it is supposed to, it is simply incredible, just like the working of the human body.  Yet, just as our human bodies are often affected by sin and disease, so it is with the church body.  And so it can be rare that we see the body of Christ functioning in the way pictured in the Bible.  But when we do, it is awesome.

I am grateful on a daily basis that this picture of the body is often beautifully displayed at Isaac’s Keep.  It is a precious thing to be a member of a body like this.  In the past few months, we have seen God working in marvelous ways in the individual and family members of IK, and it has been truly refreshing to see how the rest of the body has come alongside and functioned like, well, a body.

Take last Thursday, for instance.  The Geist family has been busily preparing for Hide and Seek Day Camp, a ministry the Lord impressed upon them.  The body of IK has come together in many ways to aid them in this work.  On the day I have in mind, volunteers spent the day helping to build the camp’s climbing wall.  Tractors were loaned, sweat was donated, expertise was even provided by a body member now living in Alabama!  That evening, we came together for dinner (because the body needs to be refueled from time to time) and then the work of the body resumed.  And, to my knowledge, no one worked or donated or helped grudgingly.  Everyone was genuinely delighted to be of use in the body.

I hope that you all see the body of Christ working in these simple ways wherever you are.  If you do, feel free to share them as an encouragement.  If not, pray that the body would become all it is meant to be in Christ and that you would find your place within it.