Resolution: Lose Weight!

Sunday I continued in our Resolution message series. The topic was weight loss and optimum health.

The number one new year’s resolution in the USA is to lose weight. For good reason, Americans are the most out of shape population on the planet!

God didn’t intend for us to lack optimum health. In fact, he created perfect people in a perfect environment. Adam and Eve lived in a garden with no pollution, no pesticides, no genetically modified foods, no preservatives. There was no corruption of the gene pool in their ancestry because they had no ancestry!

So, what happened between then and now? Maybe this historical overview will help.

• God populated the earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach and green and yellow vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.
• Satan created hamburger restaurants. And hamburger restaurants brought forth the 99-cent double-cheeseburger. And Satan said to Man, "You want fries with that?"
• And Man said, "Super size them." And Man gained pounds.
• God created the healthful yogurt, that woman might keep her figure that man found so fair.
• So Satan froze the yogurt, and he brought forth chocolate, nuts and brightly colored sprinkle candy to put on the yogurt. And woman gained pounds.
• And God said, "Try my crispy fresh salad."
• And Satan brought forth creamy dressings, bacon bits, and shredded cheese.
• And there was ice cream for dessert. And woman gained pounds.
• Then God said, "I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil with which to cook them."
• And Satan brought forth chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter, and Man gained pounds, and his bad cholesterol went through the roof.
• God brought forth running shoes, and Man resolved to lose those extra pounds.
• And Satan brought forth cable TV with remote control so Man would not have to toil to change channels between ESPN and ESPN2. And Man gained pounds.
• And God said, "You’re running up the score, Devil." And God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition.
• And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fat fried them. And he created sour cream dip also. And Man clutched his remote control and ate the potato chips swaddled in cholesterol.
• And Satan saw and said, "It is good!" And Man went into cardiac arrest.
• And God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery. So Satan created HMOs!

It’s a funny story but it’s very close to true!

Sadly, over half of all adults in the U S are overweight and nearly 60 million are considered obese. Children are also piling on the extra pounds. Nearly 9 million are obese. It’s a fat epidemic!

Health and vitality are being drained away. In their place are a host of serious and life-altering ailments brought on by being overweight: hypertension, type 2 diabetes, osteoarthritis, stroke, sleep apnea and many more.

Your degree of health directly impacts your quality of life. Your health impacts your mental, emotional, financial, social, relational and even spiritual wellbeing.

Here is a key principle: it is easier to maintain your health than to regain it!

So, what’s the solution?

One thing is for sure, will power is not enough!

First, know the ingredients to healthful living. There are five:

1. Diet
2. Exercise
3. Faith
4. Hope
5. Love

Everyone knows that diet and exercise influence our health. Fewer realize the less tangible but also important aspects of faith, hope and love.

Faith has been shown in many medical studies to be positively correlated to health and especially for improved recovery from illness. Prayer works!

Hope is essential to all survival. We always have hope in Jesus Christ!

Love. Most stories of survival against all odds have as a component the desire to see a loved-one once again. Love is life-giving.

What does the Bible say?

An instructive passage is I Cor 6:19-20.

Do you not know that your body is a temple 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 body.

There are four powerful lessons in this text about our bodies:

1. Our bodies house the Holy Spirit. (v 19)
2. We do not belong to ourselves but to God. (v 19)
3. We have been bought with a price – the blood of Jesus (v 20)
4. We were designed to glorify him in all that we do. (v 20)

For a Christ-follower, there are two motivations for being ‘in shape:’

1. It’s a good stewardship of the gift of life.
2. It allows you to serve God and others with energy and vitality.

How do you get yourself in shape? Decide on a diet and exercise program (they all work!), the do two things:

1. Start!
2. Stay with it!

Here are three scriptures that should encourage anyone embarking a significant lifestyle change of any king:

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. -Phil 4:13

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
-Gal 5:22-23

If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! -Ecc 3:10

I pray this blessing for you as you resolve by God’s grace and power to change your life for the better in 2008:

Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. 3 John 1:2

Do you have a fitness tip or a weight loss testimony? Put it in the 'comments' to this post!