This past Sunday I went bowling. Our men's ministry sponsored an evening of pizza and bowling. I was having a blast. The pizza was good. The fellowship was better. And by the time I hit the seventh frame of the first game ... I was beginning to hit a groove (a strike and two splits at that point). But the seventh frame did not prove to be a "lucky" frame (many consider the number seven a lucky number). A nanosecond after releasing my ball ... I felt a twang in my lower back. This was followed by a sharp pain that shouted, "You hurt me, buddy!" I slowly and awkwardly walked back to find a seat. I sat down for a few moments ... the pain stayed with me. I tried to stand and could not. So I asked for a helping hand. Upon standing I knew that my bowling was done for the evening. So I changed my shoes (as best as I could from a standing position) ... and meandered out to the car.
Two days later I am glad to report my lower back is on the mend. The pain, though still present, is neither as sharp as it was on Sunday evening nor as constant. I hope with a couple of more days of taking things easy ... I will be back to norm. Whether I will ever bowl again ... hmm, I will have to think long and hard about that! (By the way ... last evening we were schedule to do pizza and bowling with my youngest daughter and her husband. It was their birthday gift to me. Needless to say, we did the pizza but not the bowling. Just the thought of even lifting a bowling ball caused the ache in my back to cry out in protest!).
As I thought about my experience, I was reminded of how fragile our bodies are. And the older we grow the more fragile our bodies become. For this reason, I am so encouraged by the Apostle Paul's description of our future resurrection body. Take a moment and read what he wrote (and remember, this is not merely Paul's opinion, but it is divine revelation, as Paul was writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God - see 2 Peter 1:21).
"But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor;it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust,we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven."
(1 Corinthians 15:35-49)
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
