A while back I had a stress test done. Heart disease runs in my family, and so I thought at my age I should have myself tested. At first, I was flattered when several nurses came in to watch as I stumbled along on the treadmill. I thought to myself, “They are probably impressed this old dude can push the envelope like he is.” Turns out, they took one look at me and decided they may as well hang around and save the doctor the hassle of issuing a code blue. I didn’t “code.” I thought I did pretty well; at least no paddles were used and no yelled “Clear!”
I sat down with the good doctor a few days later to hear his report. He said, “Well, the good news is you are in average condition for a man your age”—that had me feelin’ pretty confident, but then he continued, “The bad news is, the average man your age is in terrible condition.”
I’m pretty quick so it only took a couple minutes to figure out he wasn’t complimenting me. He helped me understand I was (and it really hurts to say this) in terrible condition. Good news is, my heart is OK, I’m not sick or anything, I’m just not in shape. Although the last I checked, pear is a shape.
Like many people, I have learned to enjoy the wrong things. It used to be honorable to say, “I’m a meat and potatoes man.” Today it’s like bragging you’re a chain smoker. One of the things I love about the church I pastor is that we have a lot of young people. I like to believe I have a young mindset. But when it comes to diet and exercise, I realize I’m way behind the curve. To add insult to injury, four of the ten other people on my church’s Leadership Team are marathoners, and another has successfully completed a full-distance triathlon not once, but twice! If you’re not aware, that’s a race in which the participants swim 2.4 miles, jump on a bike and ride 112 miles and then run a full marathon of 26.2 miles—in less than 17 hours! It’s grueling but incredible accomplishment in self-discipline.
We live in a time of constant, rapid change. But some of the more radical changes that has evolved in our contemporary culture are the paradigms relating to food and exercise. What was known as comfort food is being quickly replaced by foods that promote health and nutrition. For a long while, I swatted this trend aside like a pesky mosquito, believing it was merely a passing fad. But now I fully realize it is a game-changing reality. Diet and exercise have become an important priority for every contemporary (and young thinking) adult and child in America.
When I was a young man, hard, physical labor and home prepared foods resulted in very few of us being overweight. One look at my high school yearbook, and I quickly realized, very few of us were even considered “stocky” let alone “obese.” Today, because the workplace demands less physical labor and most of the food we eat is commercially prepared, there has been a seismic shift in the waistline of America!
I know what it’s going to take to return my aging body to a level of health proportionate to my age. I don’t need more knowledge, I need more self-discipline. It will require a lifestyle change. And I’m committing to that change. I’ll try not to foist my newfound health project upon you, the reader.
Because I teach the Bible for a living, one thing I know about spiritual health—it doesn’t matter if you only believe the Bible, it only matters if obey the Bible. James, who refers to himself as the brother of Jesus, wrote:
“Don’t fool yourself…Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.”
James 1:22-24
I’m just old enough to know the most significant changes don’t come about by radical decisions. They come simply by taking the next best step in the right direction. And then the next. And then the… well, you get the idea.
I wish you good health.
Read Ron’s column, Simple Faith, each Saturday on the Faith Page (page 3) of the Lancaster Eagle Gazette, or visit www.lancastereaglegazette.com.