Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Yeah, so the Bible says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and I believe it because the Bible says it (Psalms 139:14). Be that as it may, I am very much looking forward to "Brad's Body 2.0". Let's start with the brain and go from there.

I have a few diplomas behind me on the wall that indicate that I ought to be very educated. I went to school for roughly 22 years. Play school, elementary school, middle school, high school, five years of college, 3 or 4 years of seminary, and then some extra classes on the side. That represents a lot of time, money, and study. And what do I have to show for it?

At one time I had almost 1,000 Hebrew vocuabulary words memorized. I could just nearly sight read Genesis in the original language, as well as John in the Greek. I could tell you the distant-open rule from memory, why the "noon" in "ntn" keeps popping off, spot a deponant verb from ten steps away, and my BDB was never more than an arm's reach away. Also, I used to be fairly conversational in Portuguese, could read French, get around in mod. Arabic and Hebrew, and do Algebra in my head.

N more friends, no more!! Where did all that stuff go? Last week, I chucked all my Hebrew vocab cards and started over. I have maybe 200 words left in the memory bank and I cannot remember why there is a yiqtol and a wayyiqtol. I can't remember if the Hiphil or the Hophal is causative. I can't recognize accusatives like I used to. And Arabic? Yeah. "Hoowah min Musr" is about all that's in there. As for Algebra, I had to stare at the word to make sure I spelled it right. *sigh*

So, my brain is a lousy thing really. I believe that if I had to option of remembering all that I have forgotten by paying with all I currently remember, it would probably be a nearly even trade.

If we move on from the brain to the body, it gets worse. I turned 35 the other day. In the grand scheme of things, that's fairly prime. I ran a half-marathon recently and competed in three triathalons. But I can assure you, I was much slower and it was far more painful than it was at 18. If I take a week off of training now...well, it is harder to get whipped back into shape. Suffice to say, this body is probably on the down-hill slide.

But these are mostly happy things if you aren't banking on stuff in this world. A forgetful brain and a body that will soon need propping up serve to remind me that this world stinks. Its dying. Death permeates it. This old tent I'm living in will be consumed one day and a new one will rise from its ashes. I will be given a perfect body. That one won't get tired, be forgetful, and best of all, beset with sin.

In the meantime, I'm still going to study. Study for God's glory honors God. And, I'm still going to swim, bike, run. I do that because I like it, and I do it because I believe it honors God. The body is a wonder; I do not deny that. I feel like a the body is sort of like your first car. Every red-blooded boy wants to see how the car he got performs. Just listen to a guy talk about his car. What kind of gas mileage does it get? Does it have a towing package? What kind of engine does it have? How fast..uhhh..will it get to the speed limit? I want to know that stuff about myself because this body is a gift from God. It's like He graciously tossed me the keys to this thing He made and said, "Why don't you take it for a spin?" Oh yeah, let's see what it will do. And then, as I have stuff my head with all that it can remember and as the body gasps after 13 miles I will think, "Yeah, and the Father has a new one waiting for me when I'm finished with this one."