Yesterday in worship I mentioned that Shaun Brumbaugh, a good friend, calls verses such as 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 "safety verses," because when we live them out they have the ability to keep us safe from temptation and sin.  Let's look at 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 again:  For this morning let's look at 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:  ¹⁹Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT

When we remember that our bodies are "temple(s) of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you [us]...." we gain a whole new understanding of why we need to keep them pure when it comes to the use of alcohol and other legal and illegal drugs.  While the secular law regulates the use of alcohol and other legal and illegal drugs, we don't need that law to know that ingesting or injecting drugs purely for the sake of the thrill we receive from them harms the bodies/temples of the Holy Spirit God has given us.  If we took a moment to remember that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit in every situation where we're tempted to misuse them with alcohol and other drugs, we'd experience at least two benefits: 1) we'd recognize purely from a human standpoint that we need to protect our bodies/temples, and 2) we'd call on the Holy Spirit who lives in us to empower us to know and do the right thing.

In addition to the reality that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit,  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 remind us we are not our own--we don't belong to ourselves.  We belong to God!  He paid the price of Jesus' life to redeem us­-to purchase us back from sin and death.  As we go about this day, let's remember 1  Corinthians 6:19-20 as the safety verses they are every time we're tempted to use our bodies in a way that won't glorify God!

Let's pray:  Heavenly Father, thank You for "safety verses" that remind us of You plans for us!  Fill us with Your Holy Spirit right now that we may remember that we are and be empowered to live today as temples of Your Holy Spirit.  This we ask in Jesus' name.  Amen.