December 12, 2018 – Click here to listen
My father lived to the ripe old age of 92. When he got into his 80’s I began to worry that he rarely got any exercise, so I chided him about it one day. He looked at me and said, “I get my exercise being a pallbearer at jogger’s funerals.” He wasn’t exactly a poster boy for those of us who exercise. It seems I’m reading on a daily basis about someone who is over 100 who eats the diametric opposite of a “proper diet” and scoffs at a disciplined exercise program. Unfortunately, these stories give those who refuse to eat sensibly and don’t want to exercise the excuse they need to eat whatever they want and stay on the couch.
I’m not obsessed with living on this planet beyond the norm and don’t try to subsist on berries and nuts, nor do I try to work out 8 hours per day, but I do want to do enough, so I can have some quality to my life. I want to feel good and stay strong. I know so many people right now who are struggling with their health. One of my neighbors cannot go anywhere without an oxygen tube stuck in his nose. He drinks alcohol like water and until recently smoked. He’s as skinny as a rail and his color looks like death. He is miserable before his years due to his lifestyle.
The Bible tells us our body is a temple and God resides in it. Is your temple more like the ghetto, or do you maintain it so that it sparkles? Too many people just give up and accept that they will always be overweight or whatever. It is simply a lie straight out of hell. I hired a guy for one of my companies many years ago that I met on a plane. He was about 180 pounds and fit. Fast forward a few years and he was morbidly obese. He got sick of being in that condition and decided to do something about it. He lost 90 pounds and wants to lose another 40 which will put him at 220, the weight he wants to be at.
Everyone asked if he had gastro-bypass surgery or what, but all he did was exercise and eat sensibly. It is all any of us have to do. As we enter this holiday season of food, food, food think about your temple and the quality of life that you want to enjoy. Do what you need to do, which for most of Americans means you must divorce the fork regardless of your love for her. God is quite serious about this subject. Check out this verse:
1 Cor. 6:19
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.