Caution: Up To Date is designed to be read in a linear fashion, as each chapter builds on principles established in the previous chapters. For your best relationship success, begin with the introduction and progress chapter by chapter.
Chapter Eleven
Fine Tuning
"So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him" (Psalm 45:11).
"If your religion does not change you, then you should change your religion."
First things first
Norm was nearly a perfect husband. There was just one problem. He smoked. He tried to quit many, many times, and he finally did quit for good after forty years. Praise God he overcame (smoking is a tough one, but it can be done)! Unfortunately for Norm, it was too late.
His wife always dreamed of retirement, spending time together, traveling to see the kids, the world, and more ;-), but Norm had emphysema. For fifteen years, the need for supplemental oxygen greatly reduced their ability to travel. He died at seventy-eight years of age in great health . . . except for his lungs. Had he not smoked, he may have lived beyond ninety, active and happy. His wife cared for him the last three years of his life while he wasted away with every exhausting breath. She stuck with him without the slightest hesitancy and did only necessary travel without him. She loved him to his dying day.
The question here is this: what kind of gift could he have given her had he understood that the health choices early in life would have such significance on their later years together?
When it comes to dating, health is considered either irrelevant, over emphasized, or too personal. "After all," we think, "we are only hurting ourselves, and it really won’t hurt me, either." We feel invincible – that is, until we turn about 39 years of age. Consistent healthy choices is totally contrary to our culture and our will. We just don’t want to do it.
As we saw in Norm’s situation, health choices have a significant impact on a relationship. Dating isn't just about getting ready to make that wedding-day commitment. It’s like investing in the stock market: a good decision today makes for a promising future. If we invest in the wrong stock today, we may never have a future. Since the result doesn’t happen overnight, we rarely see the true impact until the permanent damage is done.
Many suggest that because marriage is for better or worse, health should not matter. In a way, that’s correct. I would say that a health issue is never a reason for divorce—ever, according to biblical standards. I can also tell you that when someone watches a person they love killing or maiming themselves decade after decade by their health habits, it will have marital consequences even in the best of relationships.
So, here is another chance to partner with God. By the grace of God, today is the day to begin making any of "worse" times better.
This chapter is designed to not only help the reader understand the importance of establishing regular health habits and routines before making a marriage commitment, but also to learn the most simple, most basic habits that will contribute to a healthy and happy marriage.
The first chapter in the book of Daniel explains where God blessed him with ten times the knowledge and wisdom of the other "wise men" because he chose to eat vegetables instead of the delicacies from the kings table. The Bible speaks of physical health in a couple of other places, but where else can we get quick and practical health information without being too overwhelmed? I don’t know about you, but I am seriously overwhelmed with GMO, free radicals, organics, and cleansings. The good news is, God doesn’t leave us without a full picture of godly health principles.
In his book, The Blue Zone, Dan Buettner reviewed the lifestyle of many different people groups and identified four of those who live the longest and the happiest lives. In the latter people groups, he brings our attention to the Seventh-day Adventists who share a unique lifestyle of healthy habits, a plant based diet, a sense of family and community, along with a peculiar day of rest in keeping the biblical Sabbath, all of which contributes to a life expectancy that exceeds the common population by about ten years. Loma Linda University authenticates this data in their intensive health studies over many decades. You will find these biblical and practical health principles below in an easy acronym of NEWSTART. Consider them prayerfully.
Any change in our daily, automated routine can be overwhelming, so to be successful, just work on one or two principles at a time. I suggest starting with rest, because if you follow the biblical rest principle you will find time to contemplate and implement the others.
Do not expect that you can make every transition at one time. You would be setting yourself up for discouragement and failure. Having said that, don’t toss them off as unimportant or avoid a constant forward momentum, either. Make a complete list from this chapter. Bring one or two things before God for a month or so, asking for His grace. Then add another item the next couple of months. Set yourself up for success and keep moving forward and what initially seemed overwhelming will become a new, exciting, and desirable lifestyle with God.
Biblical health instruction
Keep in mind that Leviticus, one of the five books Moses was inspired to write, covers many health topics. The Israelites were a large mass of people, more than one million, all traveling together. They didn’t know about bacteria, viruses, or other pathogens, but God did, so He gave them explicit instructions on how to interact, to eat, to dispose of bodily waste, and to avoid disease. These were not just Jewish or ceremonial laws. There is no more critical time to pay attention to those instructions than now as we watch swine flu, HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases, SARS, Avian Flu, and even just cold and flu viruses go through our nation. The Levitical law makes a lot of sense. Keep that resource in mind.
Adopting the NEWSTART health plan is a great way to live longer - ten to fifteen years longer according to studies by Loma Linda University. I don't believe it means we just stay alive. NEWSTART means that we can really live! Click here for your NEWSTART journey and the beginning of a better, happier marriage.
Now that we have personal health and lifestyle well in hand, in what practical ways can we prepare? Next course - the recipe for combining two to eventually make one.
Fine Tuning
"So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him" (Psalm 45:11).
"If your religion does not change you, then you should change your religion."
First things first
Norm was nearly a perfect husband. There was just one problem. He smoked. He tried to quit many, many times, and he finally did quit for good after forty years. Praise God he overcame (smoking is a tough one, but it can be done)! Unfortunately for Norm, it was too late.
His wife always dreamed of retirement, spending time together, traveling to see the kids, the world, and more ;-), but Norm had emphysema. For fifteen years, the need for supplemental oxygen greatly reduced their ability to travel. He died at seventy-eight years of age in great health . . . except for his lungs. Had he not smoked, he may have lived beyond ninety, active and happy. His wife cared for him the last three years of his life while he wasted away with every exhausting breath. She stuck with him without the slightest hesitancy and did only necessary travel without him. She loved him to his dying day.
The question here is this: what kind of gift could he have given her had he understood that the health choices early in life would have such significance on their later years together?
When it comes to dating, health is considered either irrelevant, over emphasized, or too personal. "After all," we think, "we are only hurting ourselves, and it really won’t hurt me, either." We feel invincible – that is, until we turn about 39 years of age. Consistent healthy choices is totally contrary to our culture and our will. We just don’t want to do it.
As we saw in Norm’s situation, health choices have a significant impact on a relationship. Dating isn't just about getting ready to make that wedding-day commitment. It’s like investing in the stock market: a good decision today makes for a promising future. If we invest in the wrong stock today, we may never have a future. Since the result doesn’t happen overnight, we rarely see the true impact until the permanent damage is done.
Many suggest that because marriage is for better or worse, health should not matter. In a way, that’s correct. I would say that a health issue is never a reason for divorce—ever, according to biblical standards. I can also tell you that when someone watches a person they love killing or maiming themselves decade after decade by their health habits, it will have marital consequences even in the best of relationships.
So, here is another chance to partner with God. By the grace of God, today is the day to begin making any of "worse" times better.
This chapter is designed to not only help the reader understand the importance of establishing regular health habits and routines before making a marriage commitment, but also to learn the most simple, most basic habits that will contribute to a healthy and happy marriage.
The first chapter in the book of Daniel explains where God blessed him with ten times the knowledge and wisdom of the other "wise men" because he chose to eat vegetables instead of the delicacies from the kings table. The Bible speaks of physical health in a couple of other places, but where else can we get quick and practical health information without being too overwhelmed? I don’t know about you, but I am seriously overwhelmed with GMO, free radicals, organics, and cleansings. The good news is, God doesn’t leave us without a full picture of godly health principles.
In his book, The Blue Zone, Dan Buettner reviewed the lifestyle of many different people groups and identified four of those who live the longest and the happiest lives. In the latter people groups, he brings our attention to the Seventh-day Adventists who share a unique lifestyle of healthy habits, a plant based diet, a sense of family and community, along with a peculiar day of rest in keeping the biblical Sabbath, all of which contributes to a life expectancy that exceeds the common population by about ten years. Loma Linda University authenticates this data in their intensive health studies over many decades. You will find these biblical and practical health principles below in an easy acronym of NEWSTART. Consider them prayerfully.
Any change in our daily, automated routine can be overwhelming, so to be successful, just work on one or two principles at a time. I suggest starting with rest, because if you follow the biblical rest principle you will find time to contemplate and implement the others.
Do not expect that you can make every transition at one time. You would be setting yourself up for discouragement and failure. Having said that, don’t toss them off as unimportant or avoid a constant forward momentum, either. Make a complete list from this chapter. Bring one or two things before God for a month or so, asking for His grace. Then add another item the next couple of months. Set yourself up for success and keep moving forward and what initially seemed overwhelming will become a new, exciting, and desirable lifestyle with God.
Biblical health instruction
Keep in mind that Leviticus, one of the five books Moses was inspired to write, covers many health topics. The Israelites were a large mass of people, more than one million, all traveling together. They didn’t know about bacteria, viruses, or other pathogens, but God did, so He gave them explicit instructions on how to interact, to eat, to dispose of bodily waste, and to avoid disease. These were not just Jewish or ceremonial laws. There is no more critical time to pay attention to those instructions than now as we watch swine flu, HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases, SARS, Avian Flu, and even just cold and flu viruses go through our nation. The Levitical law makes a lot of sense. Keep that resource in mind.
Adopting the NEWSTART health plan is a great way to live longer - ten to fifteen years longer according to studies by Loma Linda University. I don't believe it means we just stay alive. NEWSTART means that we can really live! Click here for your NEWSTART journey and the beginning of a better, happier marriage.
Now that we have personal health and lifestyle well in hand, in what practical ways can we prepare? Next course - the recipe for combining two to eventually make one.
