Healthy Body

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Thanks for tuning in to the Met Church podcast. Here at the Met, we are all about connecting people to God and one another. If you have any questions or want more information about what's happening here at the church, then head to our [email protected] we would love to stay connected with you throughout the week through social media, so be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter now. Enjoy the message. [00:00:24] Speaker B: Well, today we're continuing our series called Healthy. We've been in this series since. Since January. We're taking our time through this because ultimately, we think that health is very, very important, not only to our vitality, but also to the vision that God has for our lives. So I just think it's probably pretty obvious when I ask this question, how many of us in this room would like to be even just a little bit more healthy? Yep, I thought so. Financially, relationally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and the like. In fact, I've never met a single person in my entire life that has said out loud. You know, I think I've got it all figured out, and I'm annoyed by it. I'm gonna start letting some things slip. Let those plates begin to fall, to break. No, no, no, no. Nobody says that we all want to be healthy. We all want to sustain good health. And we believe that God wants us to pursue health in every area of our lives, not only for our benefit, but also for the benefit of others. Because how many of you know, healthy people help people, and God's all about people, and so he wants us to be healthy not only for our own benefit, but also so that we can benefit others. And today we're in the second installment of our Healthy Habits portion. Pastor Bill, many months ago, he kicked off the series by talking about healthy hearts. If you remember that, it was great. If not, go back and listen to it. And then he moved right along into healthy homes. Last week, he kicked off Healthy Habits, and today is part two. And it is gonna get physical. Physical, because they're talking about a healthy body. Oh, a healthy body. So if you have toes, go ahead and tuck them. They might get stepped on today. And I hope that you're not offended. That is not my heart. I really hope you hear my heart today. I'm your friend. I'm a brother in Christ. And so the hope is that this lands on your heart in a way that really edifies you. That's. That's the heart behind the message today. Let's take a look real quick at 3 John, chapter 2, verse 2. Here's what the word says, dear friend. John says, dear friend, I hope all is well with you. Not. Not that some is well with you, but all is well with you and that you are as. Here we go. Healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. You may not have thought about it much, but God actually has quite a bit to say all throughout Scripture about our physical health. Now, about 10 years ago, I mean, I was fast, fastidious about my physical health. I mean, physical fitness was of paramount importance to me. I was a gym rat. I was in the gym all the time, at least an hour a day, sometimes multiple hours on any given day. And I'd walk around with one of those, you know, gallons of water. You ever see people do that one? Because it's kind of like, yep, I'm committed. But number two is to optimize your hydration, right? I mean, I was on a lean diet. No, hardly any carbs, no sugar, none of that stuff. And from time to time, if I'd have a cheat meal, usually looked like some sort of special cereal that resembled acorns and twigs. Know what I'm talking about? And as I said, I'd go to the gym and I'd work out a lot. And I always had a workout partner because I just know it's better to have accountability. Look, God never intended on you doing life alone. No matter what you may endeavor to do, it's always more than just me. And so I had an accountability partner, someone to work out with. And in one particular season, uh, my workout partner was Pastor Corey. Oh, we love Pastor Corey. We've been buddies for a very, very long time. And. And during this season, he and I are working out together, and we made some incredible gains. And I knew you wouldn't believe me unless I showed you a picture of it. So take a look here. Here's Pastor Corey and I. There we are. Look at those two stallions right there. Okay, you can take that down. No one's believing that mess. That's a cheesy Photoshop job right there. But the reason why I share that is because oftentimes, if we allow our minds to go down the road and picture of what physical fitness looks like, it tends to resemble something like that, doesn't it? Or some variation of that. And here's some really good news. Okay? The good news is this. Is that this message is not about how you look. It's not about Amen. Amen. And for the people in the back, it's not about how you look. It's not about Us getting ready for swimsuit season. Hello. It's about. It's not about us updating our profile picture on Instagram as if it really matters at all. This message is not about looking better. It's about living better. It's about living better. It's about us realizing that how we treat our body matters to God. It's about us maximizing what God gave to me so I can carry out the calling that God has uniquely placed on my life. Can I get an amen? All right, well, now that you're with me, I'm gonna drop some things that are a little bit startling. The data is in, and it's not very encouraging. Here's what the Data says. Only 30% of our country has good levels of physical fitness. Consequently, 70% of Americans are heavier than they should be. One out of three have diabetes or are pre diabetic. And one fourth of all American deaths are the result of heart disease. Now, that's the backdrop by which I give you this disclaimer. By no means. And if you hear this, you didn't hear this from God, and you surely didn't hear it from the sound of my voice. This is from the enemy, and that's this. You will not hear me say that if you are not where you want to be physically, that that is necessarily because of either sin or unwise decisions. You will not hear me say that. That's not the truth. The reality is there are lots of factors at play here. There's thyroid factors. There's hormonal factors. There's illness, there's disease. There are all types of extenuating circumstances that can lead to us having a poorer condition than a better condition. So sometimes these are just things that are just totally out of our control in that regard. And how many of you know that we don't all have the same genetic hand. Right. You met that person who doesn't do anything, doesn't lift a finger, eats as much chips and cookies and pizza all day long, and they still look like a chiseled Greek statue. You know what I'm talking about? You know what we do with those people? We hate those people. All right, guys, I'm just kidding. Mostly. Okay. No, really. This is a judgment free zone. There's no shame being slung around here today. Zero. None. No shame. In fact, I want you to be reminded that Jesus Christ did not come to put shame on you. He came to take shame off of you. And if you feel shame, that is the enemy. John 10:10 is a real thing. The enemy has Come to steal, kill, and destroy. But I have come, Jesus says to give you life so you may have it abundantly. That's a real truth that we need to start walking in more often so there's no shame. The only person we're looking at today is me. That's it. Okay. This is a judgment free zone. And I also want you to know this, that I'm not even gonna pretend to be an expert. I'm not a dietician, I'm not a nutritionist, and I'm not a physician. And so I'm not gonna wade into waters very deep. They're just outside of my wheelhouse. Okay. All I want to do today is I just want to point us in the right direction, according to God's word, just points in the right direction, and it gives us the ability to kind of think this through just a little bit more, hopefully, today, which how many? You know, you're going home and you're making your own food, and no one's going out to Lupe Tortilla after this. I promise you that. The point is it can slowly be something you think through a little bit more so we can start living this. Okay, Take a deep breath. I feel better about that now. All right, let me give you three reasons not to get in shape. You probably didn't see that coming. Three reasons to not get in shape, and I've got a list of them. Get ready. It's identity validation or worth. If the motivation, if our why behind the what we do to get in better physical condition has to do with identity validation or worth. And I must say this very gently and lovingly. You ready? [00:08:15] Speaker A: We're wrong. [00:08:17] Speaker B: It's wrong. If that's the motivation, it's cheap and flimsy and will not lead to anywhere but a cycle of disappointment because we're trying to find value in things that God never put value and stock in. In fact, the only time it becomes a bad thing is when a good thing becomes the main thing. It's good to have validation. It's good to have worth. It's good to have identity. But if that becomes the main thing and it's focused on physical fitness, that's when it becomes a bad thing. Let's take identity first. We'll break them down very quickly. Identity is the who. It's who you are. It's who you believe yourself to be. And sometimes we reduce our identity to something so cheap, we just say, well, I'm just an overweight guy or an overweight girl, or I'm just A skinny guy or a skinny girl. And if we reduce it to that, then we are missing the big picture, that our identity is on very unstable grounds. And in the end, if we were to go from being, you know, the overweight guy or girl to the skinny guy or girl, newsflash, Maybe all we really accomplished, maybe all that actually was that succeeded here was that we just traded one idol for another. Maybe we just traded the idol of food for fitness. Or maybe we just traded the idol of just staying in insecurity to. Now stepping into pride. And let me tell you about the devil. He's happy either way you go. As long as you're either insecure or prideful, your identity is in your outer appearance. He's good because he never wants you to look in and up. He always wants you to look out. What are other people saying? Comparing myself to other people. You know, the Bible says that we need to search our own. Search me in my heart. Oh, God. God looks at our hearts, not so much on. On the outside. So we gotta be careful to protect our identity and not reduce it to our physical appearance. If you've ever reached, like, a great level of physical fitness, have you ever realized that in the end you're kind of left going, oh, well, now what? Now what? Because you thought that if you were to attain that, then all of a sudden life would open up, and it didn't. Because our identity was established as something that was cheap and fake and flimsy. Okay, the second thing is our validation. We don't want physical fitness to be where we are validated, where we get our external approval. Right? Validation answers this question. Am I enough? Am I pretty enough? Am I beautiful enough? And if we're not careful, then what we will do is we will benchmark ourselves against everybody else and heaven forbid, against some sort of artificial, superficial, I should say, standard that culture imposes on us. We don't want our validation to come from other people because if you live by their opinions or if you live by their praise, you'll die by their. By their criticism. And so our validation has to come from something. Yeah. External, but not of this world. Otherworldly. And that's. That's from God. And here's what I want you to know about that, is that if, if. If somehow you get an eight pack, good on you. But God's not impressed. Like, if you get an eight pack, God's not like, whoa, now he's serious. Look, I'm gonna answer your prayers. She's serious. No, no, no. God is he's just not. He's not impressed. The power of your prayers don't hinge on your physical physique. We don't need external validation. Our validation comes from God. And you need to know. You need to know that God loves you. That's. That's where your worth comes from.3 worth. That's how valuable you are. This probably should be where the conversation starts. You gotta hear this. Listen to me. God loves you just the way you are. He'll never love you even just a little bit more than he does right now. Whether you just truly let yourself go physically or whether you become a, you know, peak level fitness, nothing can change God's love for you. He's already demonstrated how much he loves you by offering his own body. Hello. On a cross to die for yours and your soul and your spirit. You can't be any more loved than you are right now. Your worth comes from God and from God alone. So those are three reasons why we should not pursue physical health. If it's about identity, about. About validation or about worth. Okay, now let's pivot just a little bit. Let me give you a couple of reasons. Let me give you four reasons. Hello. We're gonna add one additional reason to that. Four reasons why you should get into better physical shape. Okay? The first one is this is that your body matters to God. And the classic text for this is First Corinthians 6, verses 19 through 20. It'll be up here on the screen. Here's what Paul says. Do you not know? Apparently there are a lot of us that don't know. At least in the church in Corinth, they didn't know. And oftentimes we don't either or we forget and we need to be reminded. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you receive from God? You are not your own. You are bought at a price. Oh, a high price. The highest of price. The purchase price of the blood of his son. Therefore, honor God with your bodies. Our bodies are not our own. This is not my body. It's God's body that is given to me. I'm a steward. I'm not an owner. And because I'm a steward, which means manager, not an owner, then I probably need to look to the owner about the terms and conditions. Right? And you got to know that whenever Paul uses this temple language, your body's a temple. The Holy Spirit. We don't typically talk about it in that way. Right? We're not like, hey, I'm hitting the gin. Work on the temple. Like, no one says that, but it's important for us to remember. What is Paul saying? Well, he knew that his readers would associate how God was meticulous and so concerned with the. The creation and the maintenance of the tabernacle and the temple in the Old Testament. Oh, God was. He was so concerned with and had such specificity when it came to how the temple should be decorated, how it should be curated, and how it should be cared for. I mean, he talks about, you need use this type of wood and these precious jewels and gold and, and, and have these types of curtains with, you know, the pomegranates and the bells and all that stuff. Which leads us to ask this question. Why put so much work, God, into the design of the tabernacle and then the temple? Why? And here's why. Because apparently God is greatly concerned with what the home that he occupies looks like. He's very concerned. And by look, I don't mean superficial. I mean cared for. I mean tended to. And so why would we then treat this temple with any less care than the Israelites did with a box that God's spirit would. Would enter into more so than a body that God permanently takes residence in? Well, the logical response to that is we wouldn't. We just. We wouldn't take less care. But that's why Paul said, did you not know? Because sometimes we forget, right? And, hello, I need to be reminded. We all need to be reminded. Can I give you six powerful things? We've got lots of lists today. Six powerful things. This is not on the screen. I just jotted this down. I want you to hear this. Six reasons why your body matters to God. You ready? God created your body. Jesus died for your body. The Holy Spirit lives in your body. Your body's connected to the body of Christ. Your body will be resurrected in version 2.0 someday. Hello. And number six, you're expected to take good care of your body, and we'll give an account for how well you took care of it while on the earth. Amen. Your body, it matters to God. Number two, you may live longer. Now I said may. There's no guarantees in this respect. You may live longer. It's not rocket science. Right? Let me give you a stat here. The US Food and Drug Administration currently lists obesity as the second leading cause of preventable death. And the first cause, of course, is smoking. Both of which have to do with how we interact with our bodies. The American Cancer Institute says that being at a healthy weight is the Number one thing we can do to prevent cancer. So if we want to fight against cancer, the best fighting instrument is self care. Just taking care of our bodies. The best way to fight against it. Of course, it would be unwise for us to not consult a doctor who could actually help us understand what would like, a target weight be. Because, you know, there's different body types. You might be an endomorph or an ectomorph or a mesomorph. I did a little bit of research on fitness terms. We're all different, right? So we need a doctor to be able to that. You have tables and charts and lots of data to back up how they can educate us. Because we need that education to know what our target weight should be. Now, you might push back on me a little bit there. You know, sometimes I put a sermon together. I ask him, God, what do you want to say? And then sometimes I ask myself, now, what are they going to think when I say it? And so I'm thinking some of you might be going, hey, I know where I'm going. Why would I want to live longer? I'm going to heaven, and I can't wait. I mean, this place is terrible. I mean, you got taxes, you got inflation. I mean, you got enduring another terrible Dallas Cowboys football season coming up here soon. It's not even season. We're talking about it, right? Boy, they need to get to work for real. But you're thinking, I know where I'm going, and so I want to get there as fast as I can, almost through natural means or whatever may happen now. And I get that. But I want to say this to you very lovingly. You ready? That mindset is so selfish. It's so selfish. Do you not know that God put His spirit in you not just for you, but he put his holy Spirit in. In us for other people. Your grandkids needs you. Your kids needs you. Your spouse needs you. Your community needs you. Your coworkers need you. Your neighbors need you. This weary and broken world needs the light and the love of Christ which is in us. For those of us that call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is in us and wants to work through us for as long as we're here. So let's not check out early because we don't take care of our bodies. Now listen to this. Paul, he made this calculation in Philippians 1, verse 23 to 24. You ready? Here's what Paul says. He says, I'm torn. I'm just going to be real. I'M torn. Church of Philippi between two desires. Oh, I long to go and be with Christ. Which would be far better for me. Trust me, it's far better. I mean, all this imprisonment and these beatings and ostracizement. It's way better for me to be in heaven. But then he goes on to say, but for your sakes, it's better that I continue to live. What Paul is essentially saying is, he's going, if this is about me, bye, see you later. But if I'm living for you, it's far better that I live as long as I can, so far as it's within my control. And again, there are circumstances way outside of our control. We actually control very, very, very, very little in our lives. Right. So far as it depends on me as I take care of my body, I want to prolong my life. Why? So make the biggest impact possible. We need you. The Church needs you. I'm just saying don't check out early. Live as long as you can. Be as productive as you can. Make a difference while you're here. Trust me, heaven will still be there. Heaven doesn't have a hitch. Well, we're moving it over here. Find it if you can. No, no, it'll be there. It'll be there in due time. Okay. The third reason about why to be healthy, it increases focus and energy. Can anybody else use an extra dose of energy? I know I put out a lot of energy. In fact, some people ask my wife, is he really like that off the stage, too? And she's like, yes, he is. Yeah. No, no, I'm kidding. But I get really tired, man. I get some starch in me. I get some carbohydrates in me. In fact, by about 2:00 today, I'll be like this. I will be out. I could use some more energy. I could use some more focus. I want to be more productive when I'm with my kids. I want them to get my best, not my last. When I'm with Jessica, my wife, I want her to get my best focus. I want to be both present physically and emotionally and mentally. And I know how I treat my body actually has a lot to do with that. You know, how much time we waste going to the doctor to treat things that may have been preventable, you know, much time we might get back instead of having to sit in the Walgreens line to pick up our prescription. The amount of time it takes to recover from illness and disease again, I'm talking about preventable things. There are things Outside of our control, how much time we get back in energy and focus and how much more we'll be able to do, maybe as simply as by taking better care of our bodies. And then fourthly, lastly, the reason why we want to take good care of our bodies and pursue physical health is discipline, dominoes, okay? Whenever it is, it's clinically proven that there is just something about habit stacking that wins. Come in bunches. They do. And whenever we can master a discipline in one area, especially a hard discipline, and the reason why people don't take care of their bodies is it's hard. It's hard, very hard. But if we can master that area, then just watch out. Look at the dominoes that begin to fall and how much more discipline we will have in our lives. And a disciplined life. It's a blessed life in a lot of ways. All right, so now let's get real practical. Real practical. You weren't taking notes. Now here's your chance. Let me give you six things. I told you we got lots of lists today. Let me give you six steps. Six practical steps. Now, if you are a health nut, this is going to be very elementary for you, so please just bear with me. We all got to start somewhere. Lend us some grace. Six simple steps that we can all take to pursue better physical health. All right, step number one. Put God first. Sounds pretty obvious, doesn't it? It always starts there. It should at least. But really we got to put God first. And it sounds intuitive, but it oftentimes is not put God first. In that regard, the world forgets about God and we can get caught up in the systems of the world pretty easily where we can put more focus on things that really just don't matter quite as much. The world focuses on body first. Body how you look what you can get, it's hedonism, it's what's self serving. They, they almost exclusively focus on body that, you know, I mean, how many reels, how, how many posts you see about people saying, here, let me show you these stretches, you know, stretch like this and oh, try this diet. It's all about body. And again, that can be a good thing. But when the good thing becomes the main thing, now becomes a bad thing, now becomes an idol. So the world focuses almost exclusively on body. Every now and again they might tip their hat to soul, which is your emotions, but it's almost to the exclusion of spirit. Well, the church almost does it exactly backwards. The church oftentimes unintentionally focuses so much on spirit and Then you know, every now and again on emotions, mental health and the like, but almost to the neglect of body. But it shouldn't be that way. We should be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. Focusing with spirit, soul and body, because one affects the other. I like how Paul talks about this in 1st Thessalonians, chapter 5, verse 23. Here's what he says. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole. Here we go. Spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the sequence, the arrangement. Spirit first. Start with your spirit. Let me tell you about spirit. It's how you interact with God and your soul. That's how you interact with you, okay? And then body. That's how you interact with the world. He says you got to start with God first, your spirit, but not to the exclusion of your soul and not to the neglect of your body. So we gotta start with God first. But I want you to know this, that taking care of your body is just as spiritual as bending your knee in prayer. It's just as good for your soul as lifting your hands in worship. One affects the other. I know when I'm feeling down physically, maybe because I just ate some junk and I'm just feeling down, it affects my mindset, it affects my emotions, which affects how I view God, my spirit, they all intermingle and overlap. Okay, so put God first. Number two, pay attention to your diet. This is hard for me, you guys. The struggle's real, okay? Your boy likes to eat. We got any foodies in the house? Hello, man. Ooh, I love to eat. It's entertainment for me. I just eat because it's fun. I must have super sensor taste buds or something. I don't have the picture, but Jessica, my wife, she was here. She could testify that I, at one point in time, ate a burrito that weighed more than my firstborn child. I sure did. Now, she was a preemie, but that burrito weighed four and a half pounds. I mean, I love to eat. I could give Joey Chestnut a run for his money. I love to eat. And you put a bowl of ice cream in front of me. Help me, Jesus. Gimme the whole gallon. I love it. I don't have a sweet tooth. I have a sweet mouth. I love to eat it all. I really do. So I've gotta be very careful to pay attention to my diet, and it's very, very difficult to do. And I realized this, and ultimately, when it comes to diet, it really boils down to two things, right? It's the type of fuel and how much fuel we take in and how many. You know, not all fuel has the same octane. Not all fuel has the same calories either. Broccoli calories and beer calories, they're different. So it's the how much fuel, what kind of fuel you take in and then how much fuel you're burning. It's fuel in, fuel out. It really, it really boils down to those two things. But here's the thing. It's very difficult to track. Like, how do we, how do we know how much that, that we're. We're eating? There was a interesting study that was done, and it was basically that people were asked at the end of a day, they were asked, how many calories do you think you consumed without having, you know, tracked it, how many, how many think you consumed? Now when you think about this, how many calories do you think you consumed yesterday? Just kind of think back. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. We always have snacks. Think about how many calories you consumed. Okay, so they asked them that question, and in the end, here's what the results were. It was that people who leaned toward healthy living, so they're overall, on average, healthy, they were off by 280 calories. They were off. Those who tend to be unhealthy were off by 717 calories. Here's what it tells me. Both people underestimate how many calories we consume, right? And so we need some help. And we are in a great position because these days you don't have to look very hard. You can go online. There are apps like MyPlate, MyFitnessPal. You can go to YouTube and find channels and book like Seven Pillars of Health to be able to understand what is our, you know, our target calorie amount and then how to track it, because we all need some help. And if you were to ask me, like, okay, I'm not gonna do all that, that just sounds like it's too hard, right? Just tell me what to do. Well, there's a lot there, right? If I were to tell you, I would say, well, maybe just try to eat fewer carbs and saturated fats and artificial colors and dyes and, and all that stuff. Eat green leafy vegetables. I heard a doctor say one time, if it was, if it was made in a plant, don't eat it. If it's grown on a plant, eat it. I'm like, well, that sounds pretty good. But if you were to say, Scott, just give Me One tip. Why? I'd be hard pressed to tell you. But I just want to narrow it down to one thing. If you started here. Because we all got to start somewhere, right? If you started here, you'd be well on your way. You ready? Here's what it is. Eat less sugar and drink more water. Okay, Technically that's two things, but they kind of go together, right? Eat less sugar. Drink more water. Have you been wondering what this table's? Why this table's here? All right, I'm going to show you. This is really fascinating. You ready? Keep in mind, eat less sugar, drink more water. Here. Ready? Here we go. I'm going to show you some drinks that we consume. See that one right there? That's vitamin water. It's just vitamins and water, right? That and eight cubes of sugar. Did you hear me? Eight cubes of sugar. Okay, here we go. Starbucks. Frappuccino. Now, some of you are like, don't you dare. Don't you say it. Cover it up. Quick, kids, let's go. 11 cubes of sugar. 11 cubes. Oh, it gets worse. You ready? How many guys like your energy drinks? Red Bull. No, Monster. Raise your hand if you like energy drinks. Some of you are like, I'm not raising my hand in this judgmental environment. We're done. We're done with this monster drink. 14 cubes of sugar. Oh, my. Coca Cola. Now we're in Texas. So I didn't do Dr. Pepper. I didn't do it. I love you too much. You can only handle so much. No. Only handle so much. I realize. Coca Cola. Seventeen cubes of sugar. Come on, man. Woo. Mountain Dew. How about Mountain Dew? Do not. Don't you dare. 20 cubes of sugar. And, ladies and gentlemen, a Big Gulp has 33 cubes of sugar. And we ask ourselves, I don't know why I'm so unhealthy. I don't know what's happening here. It's because this is what we drink. And oftentimes we drink it multiple times a day. And here's what's crazy. No one would say, you know what? I need a snack. How about 32 cubes of sugar? Like, nobody says that we would never do it, but we drink it all day long. You know what they say about sugar? It's the greatest threat to our children. I heard that said recently by a medical professional. It's in everything. They put it in meat these days. It's in. Obviously, it's in candy and chocolate. It's in drinks. It's in the air we breathe, that was kind of a sweet breath right there. It seems like it's in everything. And so we have to go out of our way to eliminate it from our diet. We have to pay attention as much as we can. And here's why. It is directly linked. I mean, it's not even a question to diabetes and liver issues and all kinds of things. We gotta pay attention to our diet now. This is not going to be a cakewalk. Somebody say cake. But nothing of great worth happens easily. In fact, anything of great worth requires great work. Your life is worth it. Your body is worth it. Just ask Jesus. He walks around in heaven with his scars on his wrists to prove to you how much he loves you and how much you were worth it. We got to pay attention to our diet. All right? And then also we need to perspire a little each day. I don't know if you're catching now, but these are, these are alliterated P's. I had a great old time. Bill's the master. I mean, he is the master at alliteration. I've learned a lot from him over the, over the years. So we've got six alliterated P's. You're welcome. Bless you. Perspire a little each day. We gotta get moving. We gotta move just a little bit. When I say move, I'm talking about zone two cardio. That's when you, you can walk just brisk enough to still have a conversation with somebody. This is, we're not talking about a marathon. We're talking about zone two cardio. It's a 15 minute mile walk. That is the exercise the average American does not get. Here's what it says. 7 out of 10Americans don't get that recommended amount of exercise. That is a 30. If you just do 30 minutes of brisk walking five times a week, that's what you need. Isn't that good? Can we all do that? Most of us can do that, right? Okay, how about some prioritize sleep. I found that sleep, it's a secret weapon. And sometimes, you know, there was a time whenever, when the sun went down, we went to sleep. But now when the sun goes down, we're like, now it's time to Netflix. All right, now it's time to go to bed while looking at my screen and scroll. We need to protect our sleep because the studies show, check this out. That individuals who get five or less hours of sleep consume 550 more calories than every day than people who get eight hours or more. Because when you're sleep deprived, you tend to snack more. You're not thinking clearly. 550 calories is an extra meal. We need to compromise somewhere else. Compromise on the binge watching, don't compromise on the sleep. Number five, protect your stress level. There's an obvious connection between stress and health. One study found that a majority of visits to the doctor actually in some way can be connected back to. To stress. And that should be of no surprise to anybody. There's also a link that says that only 20% of the food that we eat as Americans is because we're hungry. 20%, 80% of our eating is because we're either stressed. Hello, comfort food. Stress eating. Or because it's just available. Right? And so we have to be very careful to protect our stress. Because when we're stressed, nobody says, where are the carrots? Where those carrots at? You didn't buy carrots. You know what we do? We go a bag of chips or some cookies, don't we? Because we want a dopamine hit that's a little bit bigger than whatever stress level that we're carrying in the moment. So we gotta protect our stress. Cause it impacts our eating. And so here's what I would suggest you do. There's a couple of coping mechanisms that are far better than eating. How about just exercise? How about just, you know, get outside? Maybe you grab, you grab a Bible verse and you just munch on that for a little while and just rub. Recognize the greatness of God. Just take a lap around the neighborhood when you're stressed. Those endorphins are gonna do a lot more for you than that chocolate chip, famous famous cookie, right? So we gotta protect our stress with healthy mechanisms. Because the reality is there are some stressors we just can't avoid. Right? It's not an option to give up on our spouse. It's not. Although they may stress you out, it's not an option to give up on our kids. Well, maybe it is. I don't know. I'm kidding. It's not an option. Right. So what do we have to do? We have to find healthy coping mechanisms to be able to work through the stress. And getting outdoors and exercise absolutely helps. There was a study that said that patients in a hospital, they took less voluntary medication, got out of the hospital faster depending on what view they had out their window. If they had a view of the garden or a view of nature, they took less volunteer medication, got out faster than patients. Patients who had a view of the parking garage or the air conditioning unit on Top of the roof. Isn't that amazing? It's almost like God created us to get vitamin D and to enjoy the majesty of his creation. Number six. And finally, practice stretching. Practice stretching. 40 million Americans have mobility problems. And stretching, or flexibility is defined as the ability to move, move a part of your body through the joints and the entire range of natural motion. And yet, I get it. Throughout the normal course of life, the nicks and bruises that we all pick up, you know, our bodies are perishable. But thanks be to God that we receive a body that's imperishable. Whatever limitations we have in this day, that there will be a day we receive a glorified body in the name of Jesus, there will be able to defy the natural laws of physics on the earth, that this is just a down payment. This body's a down payment. Now, the good news is, and I want you to see this as good news, you are going to have your body just perfected and glorified for all of eternity because of what Jesus has done on the cross and his resurrection. That is so good. And I realize that in the meantime that our body is getting more and more. More and more decrepit, if you will. It's losing more and more of our mobility. But what I'm saying is let's not forfeit mobility unnecessarily. That's what I'm saying. Because we don't stretch. We don't use it. Because the studies have found that those who have a reduced level of flexibility, that it can take up to 12 years off of our lives. 12 years. I wouldn't want to end without making a parallel between stretching in our physical body and stretching in our spiritual. There's a correlation. I love. I love how Paul says this. In Philippians, chapter three, verse 14, he says, forgetting the past. Some of us need to forget about our past behavioral decisions. When it comes to our body, we got to forget about it. A new day has come. Okay? The gospel is all about newness. It's a new day. You're a new creation. Start new today. Forget what was in the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. Better health lies ahead. Come on. I press on. That sounds like stretching. I'm reaching to the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus is calling us. So can we commit today to take one which is one step toward better health? Because that's what God wants us to do, right? Stretching is when you go to your comfort zone and you just. You just go with Just a little bit more. So let's go to our comfort zone, and that's pretty much where you are today physically. And let's just. Let's just stretch a little bit more toward better health. Unto the glory of God. Amen. Lord, we love you and we thank you so much for our bodies with all of their flaws, all of their challenges. God, we are thankful that you've given us a body. You've given us a spirit, your spirit to indwell within this temple. Father, I pray that we will remember that our body matters to you and our body should matter to us. This is not about vanity. This is about worship. That we can worship you with how we respond to the body you've given to us. It's the parable of the talents. It's some has one, some has two, some has five. How much you have is not what's at stake here. It's what you do with what you have. Lord, help us not to look to our right or to our left, not to feel superior because maybe we have more function than others. Lord, let us just look inward. Let's look to ourselves and let's be good stewards and maximize what you've given to us with our bodies until you call us home and you give us a glorified body. Thank you, Lord. We pray all this in Jesus name. Amen. [00:38:49] Speaker A: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you have any questions or prayer requests, please contact us by visiting metchurch.com so that we can follow up with you this week. We look forward to seeing you next week. [00:39:00] Speaker B: Weekend.