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| Me and My CPAP Mask |
The following excerpt is from one Zig Ziglar's many speeches:
The Million Dollar Race Horse
By Zig Ziglar
"For years, I have laughingly asked audiences for a show of hands from those who owned a racehorse worth over a million dollars. Thus far, no one has raised his hand. Then I ask the audience, "If you did have a million-dollar racehorse, would you let him stay up half the nigh drinking coffee and booze, smoking cigarettes, and eating junk food?" Next question: "Would you treat a 10-dollar dog or a 5-dollar cat that way? What about a million-dollar body?"
It's fascinating that we would not treat a pet or a valuable animal the way we treat our own bodies. Question: If you did keep that million-dollar racehorse up all night smoking and drinking, how many races would he win? Obviously, horses can't smoke or drink booze. But if they could, no sensible owner would subject one to that kind of treatment. Yet, in the race for life, many people abuse their bodies, even as they observe the idea that if you've got your health, you've got everything-- or at least a chance to get everything.
Realistically, daily, disciplined accountability is the key to good health, and there are only four major requirements: Get a reasonable amount of sleep; maintain a smart, well-balanced diet; exercise moderately on a regular basis, and avoid the poisons of tobacco and alcohol." - Zig Ziglar
Read 1 Corinthians 6:9-19
These verses are not gray. Paul is talking about the misuse of our bodies by being sexually immoral. But, I think God has something for you and I in these verses.
We were bought for a steep price. For God so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son to die on a wooden cross, so we would be redeemed and our relationship with Him would be restored.
Verse 19 again- Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
I have thought for most of my adult life that I was a moderately healthy/fit individual. But since the time that I started school again, four years ago, I have struggled with having enough energy. I attributed the lack of energy to school stress, work, and all the other activities that I had going on. I noticed more in the areas that I enjoyed the most: Running, Coming to Church, activities with the Family. But in regards to running, I knew I needed to start being a better steward of my time, so I figured that I would get up in the morning and run. Great idea, RIGHT! Well, I could not drag myself out of bed to do it. No matter how motivated I was, I just didn’t have the energy to do it. As an example of where my “want to” was, Jesse (my Pastor) started running and that fired me up and motivated me, so he and I started discussing running a marathon this year. But, my energy deficit outweighed any motivation that my pastor stirred in me and I had some soul searching and work to do on my time stewardship.
I graduated in May 2020, so that burden was off me. So, just like I always do, I waited till I was at the end of my rope to go to God and get answers. I started praying for God to give me the energy to do my daily activities. That’s a reasonable request of God and one that I believed God would bless me with and just like He always does, He started taking me down a path to achieve the energy I prayed for not for vain purposes, but for His glory and to fulfill His purposes in my life and in His story. I had my yearly physical and I expressed my concerns to my physician. After blood tests and visits to other physicians, we determined that all my health issues were related to sleep and I now have a CPAP machine.
I didn’t bring my struggle up to anyone, because I really didn’t know how anyone could pray for me and in the middle of it, my struggle just didn’t seem as big as others that were going on at the same time. This body that God has given us is absolutely amazing and it can do amazing things, but we sometimes treat our own pets better than we treat ourselves and we just expect everything to work like it is supposed to. My hope for you is that you will make changes that will strengthen your temple, so you can fulfill with your life, all that God has planned for His story.
Just as living for Jesus requires sacrifice, so does a living healthy life (for Jesus). Excuses will happen, so let’s be prepared for them!
Time is nobody’s friend, we can’t go back and start again, but I can live like it might be the last.- “Last” by Micah Tyler
