“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” – 2 Cor. 4:16

Many people still laugh when I tell them that I was a sprinter in my primary school days, and a very good one by the way.

I remember how I would tease other kids on the track by flashing my right hand as I sped past them on the track, to the utter amusement of my fans.

Today however, common sense dictates that sprinting is a no-go area. In fact if I were to go for the 100-meter sprint race, people would be right to accuse me of being on a suicide mission.  

Well, we all have the fond nostalgia of those nice things that we used to enjoy doing or feasting on or gulping down “in the good old days” but not anymore, for health or other reasons. 

Eventually, whether we like or not, the natural process of aging takes its toll on our physical bodies. It’s okay.

In the natural world, some animal species may undergo continuous renewal through the seasons in order to survive.

Some animals go into hibernation; some shed their skins; some migrate; some plants shed all their leaves and so on and so forth.

However, old age also eventually catches up with them.

In our meditation today, the apostle Paul reflects on the decline, wear and tear, weakening, and depreciation of the physical body. “Our physical body is wasting away,” he says, “but our inner self is being renewed daily.”

Though a little disappointed with what was happening to his battered and scarred physical body, Paul took consolation in the fact that his inner self – the inner man – was being renewed daily.

Writing to the Colossians, the apostle Paul says, “Put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him” (Colossians 3:10).

That implies that the process of renewing the inner man comes through the knowledge of “Him that created him.”

As we continually make it a point to know Christ more and more, our inner man is renewed in accordance to the level of our knowledge of Him.

As we continually make it a point to know Christ more and more, our inner man is renewed in accordance to the level of our knowledge of Him.

In Isaiah 40:31, the Bible says those who “wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

This word of encouragement goes to those who are fretting and are anxious about the wrinkling, the greying and the slowing of their physical bodies.

While it is wise to take good care of our bodies, nothing will stop them from the natural wear and tear as we go through life.

What matters much more is that our inner self is being renewed day by day in the knowledge of the Almighty God and being transformed by the renewing of our mind in the Word (Romans 12:2).

The spirit of our mind is being renewed and getting closer and closer to the measure of the stature of Christ Jesus (Ephesians 4:23).

As the years go by, we get to enjoy His Word more. We become calmer and more conscious of His presence within and around us.

We are increasingly becoming more Kingdom-focused and less worldly minded.

So, we do not lose heart, we are being renewed.

Prayer:

Almighty God, thank you for the opportunity to be renewed through growth in the knowledge of You Son Jesus. Though my physical body might lose its vitality, may my inner man be renewed daily as I get to know you more and make You known. Amen!