Quotes, Devotional Bits, "Good 'uns," Beloved Bible Passages

(January 22) A guide to health

Refuse to be ill. Never tell people you are ill; never own it to yourself. Illness is one of those things which a man should resist on principle. (Edward George Bulwer-Lytton)

I heartily applaud Bulwer-Lytton's prescription for health, and have practiced it myself for years. Plato himself made the comment, "Attention to health is life's greatest hindrance."

I just don't have enough time to worry about whether I'm starting to come down with something or whether I should engage in some preventive health measures. For many years I practiced Twain's rule about exercise, "I never took any exercise except eating and drinking," he wrote, "because I never could see any advantage in being tired." Lately, however, I have begun working out on my Wii Dance "Just Sweat" and am losing serious weight through limiting my food intake to only what a caveman would eat. Other than that, I'm ignoring my body.

I may be dead of some dread disease by the time anyone reads this but, if so, I will have gone out by ignoring the condition as long as possible. Mortality is no serious condition for a life lived by grace. "Death is just a doorway into another room," as Helen Keller put it.

Worrying and fretting about the state of my health — whether I was coming down with something; whether I should be dosing myself with some medicine or vitamin..., now that would be a nightmarish way to live. By faith I continually give over the issues of my health into the hands of God. It's a safe place for them to be.

Heavenly Father: The Bible quotes You as saying, "I am the God who heals you!" Right! And keeps me healthy as well! And will be with me when I get sick and die! Thank You! Thank You!