In Afrikaans we have a saying: “pens en pootjies”, meaning with your whole body, or with everything. If, for instance, you want to say the rugby player went into the maul with everything he had, you would say “hy is pens en pootjies in daai losgemaal in”.
Previously, I wrote that we have been gifted with one body, and with these bodies of ours, we have the agency to bless, care, and serve. In other words, our bodies should be expended “pens en pootjies” for the love of others and the glory of God.
Let’s talk about the “pens” part of our bodies. Intestines are often mentioned in the Bible. Jesus used moving intestines to tell stories and teach, and a few times Scripture refers to Jesus’ stomach turning. The greek word for this is “splagchnizomai”, literally meaning to be moved in your bowels, or your stomach turning. “Splagchnizomai” figuratively means to be moved with compassion or to have compassion. [1] One of the most well-known chapters where this word is used, is in Luke 15, the story of the Prodigal Son(s). When the father’s youngest son returns, he is moved with compassion for his lost son and runs to him to greet him and reinstate the relationship that had been broken.
In one of a few other passages, “splagchnizomai” happens to Jesus in Matthew 15. As He sees many hungry people around him, he is moved with compassion and feeds them. On other occasions, Jesus is moved with compassion and heals, He is moved and prays, He is moved and teaches.
As a human being, Jesus felt. He cried. He got angry. He was moved. All of us were created with the innate capacity for our stomachs to turn with compassion, we were born with the capacity to feel. If we accept Jesus as our teacher, it makes sense that what moved Him should move us. Why on earth would we accept Jesus as our saviour, but choose to be moved by things different from that which moved Him?
In the Old Testament, mention is also made of kidneys. Mostly in the Psalms, our kidneys are associated figuratively as the place where our emotions and moral wisdom lie. On some occasions, our kidneys are mentioned as the organs examined by God to judge the innermost part of our being. [2] Like me, you might wonder: “How on earth did they get to that association?!”. One explanation is that the position of the kidneys in the body makes them quite inaccessible, especially when animals were cut up to be used as an offering. That is why it is believed that the kidneys are a symbol for the most hidden part of a person, the part that only God would be able to examine. [3]
What moves you? Maybe we’ve become so desensitized that almost nothing moves us these days. Have you insulated your heart (or your kidneys for that matter!) in such a way that you don’t have to feel much anymore? Because when we feel, we are obliged to respond. When we don’t feel, we don’t have to do anything. Especially for many men, we’ve numbed our capacity to feel because, somewhere along the line, we bought into the lie that we shouldn’t feel so deeply. The more numb we become, the less our capacity for intimacy and compassion becomes, and the world is poorer for it.
I find it amusing when people sometimes would say things like: “I can’t go with to the old age home/hospital/orphanage/animal shelter” because my heart can’t stand it… what about the rest of us?!
“Splagchnizomai”, the ability of our stomachs to turn with compassion, is a gift. Don’t allow that gift to lie idle. Like kidneys many years ago were associated with emotions and moral wisdom, be willing to allow God to steer and nudge your emotions to be a team player in His new world.
[1] https://academy.wentzelcoetzer.org/splagchnizomai/
Anru Liebenberg 
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