Gratitude Tuesdays

Every Tuesday I will post about something I'm thankful for.  And, I'm going to try to think of things to be grateful for that I've never thought of before.  In the Doctrine and Covenants (for those who don't know, the Doctrine and Cvenants is a book of scripture that is filled with revelations recieved by Joseph Smith from God.) chapter 78, verse 19 it says:

19  And he who receiveth all things with ^athankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an ^bhundred fold, yea, more.

 This is such a great promise.  It says that if we are grateful for the things that we are given, we will be made glorious, and we will recieve many blessings.  

This week I'm grateful for my body.  We know that God created our bodies in His image.  In Genesis 1: 27 it says:

27  So God created man in his own ^aimage, in the image of God created he him; male and ^bfemale created he them.

I have recently started doing yoga, and it is really amazing what our bodies can do.  They are so perfectoy crafted that it is impossible to think that we could be a coincidence.  Our bodies can heal themselves, they can eat, process food, be active, and so much more.  We can gradually build physical endurance in the activities we do.  It is all so perfect.  Only a perfect being could create such masterpieces.

Some may argue that our bodies can't be from God because they can get sick, or have disabilities, and can die.  But, our Heavenly Father lets us temporarily be imperfect for a reason.  We have these trials to gain experience.  It stinks.  I know.  But, I also know that God is perfect, and He knows everything.  He will not give us a trial that we cannot handle.  In the Book of Mormon, 1st Nephi 3:7 says:

7And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I ^awill go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no ^bcommandments unto the children of men, save he shall ^cprepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

I once heard a story about a woman.  She had heard an analogy that compared people to precious metal.  Intrigued, she went to a silversmith to learn more about his work.  So, the man showed her how he worked with metals to turn them into pure silver.   The process was long, she learned.  The man had to heat the metal to extremly high temperatures.  He then would let it cool.  Then heat it again, and so on.  After a while, the woman asked the silversmith how he knew the metal was done.  He replied  "This precious metal is done when I can see my reflection in it."
Jesus is like the silversmith, and we are like the metal.  All of our trials, aches, pains, and sorrows, and tribulations are our refining fire.  In the end, if we can withstand the refining, which melts away our impurities, God will be able to see His light in our countenances. 

I know that our bodies are sacred gifts from God.  They are temples, and we need to treat them as such.

I say these thing sin the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.