“Because your body was made by God, you also have appetites for things to eat, drink, touch, and see — physical desires.”

A thought by John Ortberg from his book, The Me I Want to Be (p. 86). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

We know about physical desires, don’t we?

John says, “The Old Testament is filled with commands for God’s people to feast, eat, drink, celebrate, sing, dance, shout, and make music — all things we do with our bodies. These appetites, desires, and delights can then become a way of remembering how good our God is and can lead us to become more joy-filled people.

“God loves it when you enjoy stretching or training your body in new skills, or when you enjoy what your eyes see, your ears hear, your mouth tastes, and your skin feels. The physical is not separate from the spiritual; it is the Spirit who makes our bodies come to life.”

He goes, on, “Have you ever had the desire to be physically attractive? (I will ask that once in a while at churches, but no one ever raises their hand.) This needs to be kept in proper perspective, of course, for the writer of Proverbs did warn, ‘Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.’ (Proverbs 11:22)  Beauty of character is a greater good than exterior beauty — but God did create our bodies. So can we get real? God made us with a love of beauty.

“Some stylists I know once started what they called a ‘hairdressers ministry.’ At first it sounded odd to me. The only hairstylist I could think of in the Bible was Delilah, and that didn’t turn out so well. But serving people by cutting their hair is a good thing, and people will sometimes tell things to the person cutting their hair that they don’t tell anyone else.

“This group began giving complimentary haircuts to physically challenged and mentally challenged folks, and then they traveled to Costa Rica to serve young women trying to escape a life of prostitution. The stylists cared for bodies without wanting anything in return. They honored and freely served bodies that had not been honored or served for a long time, bodies that had been turned into objects. What they did touches our hearts deeply because our bodies were made by God — they are precious to him.”

John continues, “It is a good thing to eat food you love to eat, wear clothes you love to wear, listen to music that makes you feel glad, and then to thank God that he gave you your body so you can see and hear and touch and laugh and dance. As you open yourself to the flow of the Spirit in your physical desires, you begin to love God more and more, not because you should or because it’s commanded, but because when you get to know him, you just can’t help it. What else could you do?

“Hardly anything gives me more joy than when I get to give to one of my kids. When I do and their face lights up because I have satisfied a deep desire in them, that is the best. Of course, I don’t want them to become selfish, and so I often try to monitor their character to know when denial is required. But all of that is remedial stuff. It is not my ultimate goal. I just love it when I can give and they light up.

“That is the best.”

And it really is, isn’t it?

Yes, yes!