Another example is sickness. In times of sickness or weakness, the body makes heavier demands than usual. Many workers of the Lord love themselves so much that they excuse themselves from work as soon as they are slightly sick. How could Paul ever have written his Epistles if he had called a halt whenever his eyes were hurting? At least he would not have written the book to the Galatians, for that book was written at the time when his eyes were very weak. This is why he said, "See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand" (6:11). If Paul had to wait for his eyes to get better before he could make his tents, he would never have made any tents, because it surely requires eyesight to make tents. Yet he worked during the day and made tents during the night. He did not stop because of his eyes. If Timothy had to wait until his stomach was well before he would go on with his work, there would have been no one to continue Paul's ministry, because Timothy's stomach never became well. On the one hand, it is necessary for us to take reasonable care of our bodies. But on the other hand, when the work requires us to sacrifice a little, we must never spare ourselves. When our work calls for it, we should set aside the demand of our sickness and take care of the demand of the work. It is true that sickness demands rest, but when the work calls for sacrifice, even a sick body has to heed to its call. We have to buffet our body and make it our slave. This is a basic requirement in the work. If we cannot direct our body, with what means shall we engage ourselves in the work? If a servant of the Lord is seriously sick and the Lord has not imposed a special burden upon him, it is right for him to take care of his sickness; the church should know what to do with him, and the other co-workers should also know what to do with him. But if a need exists in the work and the Lord's command is clear, he cannot be bound by his sickness. Sometimes, there is no time for sickness; we must put aside temporarily the care of our sickness. This is a lesson we all must learn.

This principle applies not only to sickness but to pain in general. Sometimes we are in so much physical pain that we feel that our body can no longer bear the torment. At ordinary times, we should provide suitable rest and therapy to the body and take care of its needs. But when the Lord's work demands and commands us to do something, we have to do it, even though our body may still be in pain. Our body should always obey us. Sometimes we have to lift up our eyes to the Lord and say, "Lord, my body has to obey me this one more time. I cannot satisfy its need this one more time!"

This principle should equally be applied to sexual desires. It is not mandatory that we gratify our need for sex. We should learn to give His service the priority over everything else.

Let us consider Paul's story. In 1 Corinthians 4:11-13 he said, "Until the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked and buffeted and wander without a home; and we labor, working with our own hands. Reviled we bless; persecuted we endure; defamed we exhort. We have become as the offscouring of the world, the scum of all things, until now." Please pay attention to the words in verse 11: "Until the present hour." This means that these conditions were still present at the time of his speaking. It shows us that Paul's body was under his control all the time. Nothing was ever allowed to hinder his service to the Lord. In chapter six of this same Epistle, from verse 12 through the end, he referred to two matters—the matter of food and the matter of sex—and he made it very clear that we are not servants of the body. Whether in the matter of food or sex, there is no need for us to become slaves to our bodies. In chapter seven he shows clearly that a man does not have to be a slave to his body in the matter of sex, and in chapter eight he shows that a man does not have to be a slave to his body in the matter of food. What then does it mean for us to buffet the body and make it our slave? It means that we buffet our body and "hit" it to the extent that it comes under our full control. Brothers and sisters, in working for the Lord and in our service to Him, we often have to restrict the demands of the body. When a need arises in the work and the body is called upon to deny its cravings, can we be strong enough to deny them? Of course, all human cravings are created by God and are given to us by Him. There is nothing wrong with the legitimate demands of the body. But are any of these demands preventing us from serving our Lord?