SZ's Twist on Blogging: THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT BODY

THE QUEST FOR THE PERFECT BODY

Last Sunday I was thinking about the national & world obsession with having the “perfect body.” People will do anything within their power to obtain it. They try every faddish diet & pill that comes out on the market; they spend millions of dollars on fitness programs & equipment, billions of dollars worldwide on make-up & plastic surgery & go into debt shopping for all the latest fashions. There are those who suffer severe depression because they are unhappy with their bodies. Some have died due to the risky diets or suffered physically & emotionally with eating disorders. Others have taken plastic surgery to the limits, being what “specialist” call addicts & of course, we have all heard the horror stories about those who’vebecome physically disfigured for life after having plastic surgery. Some how they feel if only they can cheat “old age” they will arrive at true happiness. Yet in all of this they still feel something missing & unhappy. Why this obsession?

This insatiable longing for the“perfect body” is nothing new; it’s as old as sin itself. The ancient Greeks & Romans were obsessed with the body. In every ancient pagan culture the gods were clothed with beauty & perfect bodies. They were strong, muscular, beautiful & intelligent. In many cultures a wife/concubine would spend weeks in preparation before spending a night with the king. The Egyptians longed to be like their gods & adorned themselves like gods with gems, gold & make-up. The Russians & Germans both desired to create the perfect human race. The list just goes on & on. Again, why the obsession?

I believe the answer is found in the Scriptures. Originally mankind was created perfect & immortal. All of us know that sin changed that. Just as mankind was created to worship &have fellowship with the Living God, yet when unsaved there is a void where that fellowship should be; sadly he goes about blindly seeking every type of worldly pleasure to fill a void that can never be satisfied so long as it does not know Christ, so in like manner is mankind regarding the desire for the perfect body. I believe that just as spirit longs for God (when unsaved), so the spirit longs for that perfect, incorruptible, immortal heavenly body. Not truly knowing Christ or having the Holy Spirit, they seek every means possible to obtain that perfect body,' believing that if only they can reach that desired perfection they will be loved, admired, popular, accepted, whole & satisfied'. Because they are do not know Christ they have no understanding how to fill that void. Then it occurred to me just how sad this is.

Even many of us Christians find ourselves at times too preoccupied with the way we are shaped & the way we look. The pull of worldliness surrounds us on all sides. Sometimes it temporarily pushes us off course. For a moment it blinds us as to who we really are in Christ & what glory awaits us when we leave this sinful world.

People will blame the quest for the“perfect body” on the fashion, marketing, diet & entertainment industry. Perhaps this is true in part. But, what really, is behind that longing? It’s a sinful life apart from the Heavenly Father. It’sthe inner man desiring to be clothed with the body he was intended have from the beginning but he is so lost & blind that he can not see it & is incapable of seeing it as long as he does not have Christ. Apart from Christ he can never be accepted no matter how he looks or what he does. His inner man will always have a deep void that can not be filled. How pitiful is mankind without Christ!!!

Perhaps the next time we hear of someone or meet someone with this insatiable hunger, instead of criticizing them (whether outwardly, inwardly or to others), we might just be a signpost in the wilderness that points them to the fact that in Jesus Christ they can one day obtain that truly perfect body.

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we (1Co 15:3) shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” (2 Co 5:1-4)

“For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”

(Please know I am not in anyway saying that we should not get the proper exercise, eat right & take care of ourselves. I think we have are responsibility to take care of this “house” God has given us. I am not even saying that we, especially we women, shouldn’t try to look nice. I’m rather referring to the oppressiveness that takes a hold of people.)

Just my thoughts.

Jo WikerPogive