Almost 30 years ago I was sitting in a healthy lifestyles class at Grace College and Prof Johnson told us that our heart was a muscle. Now I realize that most know that, but what he said next just floored me. He said, "in the same way we can build our biceps and make them stronger, we can build our heart muscle too." He went on to say that exercise and diet directly impacted our hearts. Then he said, "we could cause our hearts to beat less, thus allowing less strain on it."
Ok, I will admit that is not rocket science, but it is a profound truth. So, I began a lifelong journey of exercise. Then one day in Seminary I was convicted by the Holy Spirit in the area of discipline. I realized that self control was a fruit of The Spirit. I remember thinking how in the world can I preach and exhort people to be disciplined in their walks, if I am out of shape in the pulpit? Well, those two moments have shaped my life in life-changing ways.
You see, I do not want to come to the end of my life and stand before Jesus and have him say to me, "Jim these are the ways I could have used you, but you were limited because of your poor health choices."
All that to say this, yes I do work hard in fitness and diet, but only because I want to please my God. Besides, the Living God resides in me and I want to give him the cleanest, fittest, and holiest vessel possible. I do allow myself to splurge and live by an 80/20 principle when choosing food. 80% of the time it is healthy and 20% of the time it is, well, not so good health wise, but really good taste wise.
So this morning, I packed my bag with some snacks for the day and to be quite frank they are some of my favorites; an orange, banana, homemade oatmeal muffins and protein bars.
No comments:
Post a Comment