As I sit down to write this post, I am on day 23 of a 31-day juice fast.

To give you a little background about that — about 6 years ago, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, called Lupus. The medications prescribed to me cause side effects I would rather not live with — immunosuppression that led to things like bronchitis (twice!), strep throat, and shingles, all in the span of about 6 weeks. So I began looking at more natural means to manage my disease and fell upon the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. And in watching it, I learned of the role that diet plays in autoimmune diseases.

It makes sense, of course. Garbage in, garbage out. My diet has not been what it should for much of my life. In addition to Lupus, I have about 80 extra pounds to show for that.

This isn’t the first time I’ve done a long-term fast, so I am aware of the pitfalls, and yet, day 25 of this juice fast finds me a bit weary. I am tempted to quit — to cheat — to go back on my word. Who am I without the sanctity of my word? (And did I mention that I’ve discussed this fast online — both on my blog and in social media. It’s out there y’all — for all to see.)

I spoke these words out loud to my 14-year-old son this week,

 “Maybe I should just eat one meal a day and fast for the other two, or fast on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and eat the other days. I only have a week left. It won’t hurt anything. I have been fasting for 25 days!”

His response:

“Mom, you’re sure trying to find a loophole, aren’t you?”

Why yes son, I am, thankyouverymuch.

There’s not much more humbling than being called out by your child.

I knew what I needed to do to get back on track with my mind and heart in this matter — I needed to reflect on God’s Word.

Don’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, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. (1 Corthians 6:19-20)

I love this verse from 1 Corinthians.  It is humbling to realize how true it is. God did not purchase us with gold coins — He did so with the blood of Jesus. We often think of Jesus’s death on the cross as for our eternal salvation alone, for our souls, but He died for all of us — even our physical bodies.

I find it interesting that the Bible uses the word, temple, to define us. For me, this denotes a holy, worshipful place. Sacred. To be revered.

Our bodies do not belong to us; they belong to Him — to be used for his purpose and His glory. Not taking care of our physical bodies inhibits our service to him, and it must dishonor Him.

Ouch.

It blesses Him when we are honoring our bodies.

And in return, He blesses us.

Juicing is just one way I can take care of my body. There are others:

Sleeping more
Exercising.
Being careful of what I allow to infiltrate my heart and mind
Ensuring that the words coming from my mouth speak Truth, with love

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4: 31-32)

It’s not all about the food we eat. It’s about what we feed our hearts and minds, too.

So I will continue on this journey to reclaim my health — and juicing with be a part of that — no loopholes here. But I can feel my focus shifting.

count it all joy,