Getting Older

I am getting older. Well we are all getting older as each minute passes by, but I have the annual marker that officially states I have aged another year, my birthday. I remember as a kid being excited about my birthday, having a party with friends, opening presents and as a teen it meant I could get my driver’s license or to vote for the first time. However, today I wouldn’t mind if we let the birthday counter skip a couple of years so I could stay at…well, 30 wouldn’t be too bad. The problem is we often feel or see the aging affects on our body. I don’t like it. Where there was once muscle it is now squishy, where there was quickness is now sluggishness, where there was endurance is now stopping to catch my breath, where there was get-up-and-go there is now sit-still-and-veg. Even my clothes are aging, not only in style (still stuck in the 80’s), but also in their climbing numbers.

This year I have come to the reality that something needs to change in my lifestyle for better health and wellness as my doctor nods his head in agreement. Since January I have discovered God’s principles of care, provision, protection and instruction for my physical and emotional health found throughout the O.T. and N.T. As a church family we engaged in a 13 part teaching, God’s Health Care Plan. At times I was amazed at the simplicity of God’s instruction, and how today our nutrition science backs up the daily and long term benefits of such. Like drinking more water will clear skin, promote better digestion, decrease appetite, reduce headaches, and can even protect our body from chronic diseases. Seriously though 8-10 cups a day seems like a lot of water with a lot of pit stops. I need to work on that one. The major areas were nutrition, exercise, portion control, and Divine intervention, the building blocks of instruction given by any physical trainer or nutrition coach.

Some great ideas have sprung from our study on this practical topic each one of us need to know. Many of us signed up for No Fast Food February, a pledge to seek healthier alternative choices instead of the convenience and habit of fast food for a month. We have others who will commit to the ten day Daniel Fast, based on events that unfolded in Daniel chapter 1. A time to seek God’s intervention, will or intimacy by an inner desire expressed through an outer discipline. Daniel made this request to the guard over him and the three Hebrew men groomed to be in the Babylonian King’s service.

“Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. 13 Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” – Daniel 1:12-13

As you read the story, God honored Daniel’s request of obedience with health, knowledge, wisdom, spiritual gifts, and favor. After three years the King found none equal to them, and with ten times more wisdom and understanding than the other advisors. The rest of the story of Daniel and his friends are some of the most dramatic events in Hebrew history.

As for me, the beginning of 2011 has been a life altering reflection to align my lifestyle with God’s wisdom in regards to my physical and emotional health and wellness. Basic changes really, but ones that will put me on the path of God’s best for me as my years add up with strength, endurance and a little more get-up-and-go. I am proud of you. Those who are making similar lifestyle changes not just to lose weight or fit into certain clothes, but to align your daily lifestyle with the timeless principles God has already given for your own good.