A Healthy Connection to Reduce Cartwheeling
My Spirit Leads, My Heart Follows
I remember the last time I did a cartwheel. It hurt to move the next morning, vowing to never do that again. There’s also that Saturday, only a few years ago, when my lifelong besties and I decided a volleyball tournament would be great fun. We laughed harder than we played, and I couldn’t tilt my head up or back for 3 days. And, just last year, my teenage son and I raced through an inflatable maze with tunnels and rope walls. We discovered it is entirely possible to land on the TOP of one’s foot. (No guesses on who limped for a week!)
I’m not sure when these physical limits took effect. My spirit remains willing, but, ok fine, my flesh is weak, real weak. The outcomes I imagine in my head or believe in my heart no longer match my body’s performance. Too often, my memories and impulses lead my body into feats no longer qualified as safe. Other times, as my parents would say, my eyes overload my stomach. I pay for it in the morning. Emotional cartwheeling for momentary pleasure.
When I really think about it, I imagine my overall health flourishes when every part of me yields to God’s unchanging love and acceptance of who He created me to be. I go to God first because He is the vine; I am the branch. As long as I remain connected to the vine, I will produce good fruit—healthy, abundant fruit. (John 15:5). My thoughts and plans can blossom as fruits from a healthy connection with the Father. Thorny, adolescent emotions recede. Cartwheel averted.
Jesus said the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength” (Mark 12:30). Basically, with all of who you are, love God. Notice first on the list is our heart. When we prioritize our heart connection, everything else falls into place (Matthew 6:33). My spirit is nourished; my soul is satisfied; and my body is set to thrive. My best physical health flows from this progression. Beginning with stillness and meditation of God’s Word, my thoughts refocus. My soul (mind, will and emotions) rests. I arise, invigorated by a renewed confidence and strength to accomplish my purpose.
We can expect daily distractions to try and deter our direction. Offer yourself grace and question “your leader.” Did my flesh takeover, stomping her foot like an impatient toddler? “I want what I want! Now!” Has the temperamental teenager hijacked my emotions? OMG! Am I cartwheeling again? Deep breaths. Press the reset button. My spirit knows the truth. “So I say [to myself], walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh”—such as spontaneous cartwheels and inflatable mazes (Galatians 5:16).
Reflection
1. In what areas do you find the toddler or teenager leading you? How could this affect your overall health?
2. How does Jesus’ command in Mark 12 influence your approach to a healthy lifestyle?
3. How can you prioritize and refocus your daily connection to the Vine?
Goals
Identify one adjustment you can make to enhance your health at each level: spiritual,
mental, and physical.
“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” (Mark 12:30 NLT)
“Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit.” (3 John 1:2 NLT)
“For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”
(Colossians 2:9-15 NLT)
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
(John 15:5 NIV)
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16, NIV)
