Body as a living sacrifice - cared for with Sabbath rest

SABBATH MOMENTS - The body must be properly cherished and cared for, not as our master, but as a servant of God. Our body is to be regarded as holy because it is owned and inhabited by God. So we give it proper nourishment, exercise, and rest. 

Overwork misuses the body, but it has become the new “drug of choice.” Often this is associated with excessive competition and trying to beat others in some area of life. Sometimes this is just a matter of wearing our body out in order to succeed. God never gives us too much to do. He long ago gave us these words: “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep” (Psalm 127:2, KJV). 

The practical center of proper care for the body is Sabbath. Sabbath is inseparable from worship, and, indeed, genuine worship is Sabbath. When we come to the place where we can joyously “do no work” (Leviticus 23:3, KJV), it will be because God has become so exalted in our mind and body that we can trust him with our lives and our world and can take our own hands off them. 

For most of us, we can achieve Sabbath first in the practice of solitude and silence. We must carefully seek these disciplines by cultivating and dwelling in them. When they become established in our soul and our body, we can practice them in company with others. 

But the body must be weaned away from its tendencies to take control, to run the world, to achieve and produce, to attain gratification. Rest is one primary mark of the condition of Sabbath in the body, as unrest is a primary mark of its absence. So if we really intend to submit our body as a living sacrifice to God, our first step might well be to start getting enough sleep. Sleep is a good first use of solitude and silence. It is also a good indicator of how thoroughly we trust in God.