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Health Devotional
Bicycle Bob and His Wife Theresa
Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." Rev. 21:5, NKJV.
When Bob Anderson was 66 he retired as a building contractor because of debilitating arthritis in his lower back. "I could hardly make it out to the mailbox," Bob said, "so I started driving my old car the 200 feet to get the mail. I had no energy. I was 60 pounds overweight, smoked three packs of cigarettes a day, and was always short of breath."
His wife's health wasn't much better. Theresa suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes and was overweight and extremely depressed.
Then Dr. Hans Diehl came to their town of Creston, British Columbia, with a Live With All Your Heart Seminar. Its message was simple: "Our diets are killing us. Our excesses in meat, rich dairy products, sugar, alcohol, salt, and tobacco must go, or we'll eat and drink ourselves into early graves."
The results of their HeartScreen health evaluation jolted the Andersons into action. Their blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar were all too high. When they realized their rich diet and sedentary lifestyle were contributing to their heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and osteoarthritis, they dumped their vodka down the sink and filled three garbage bags with the "junk" food they cleaned out of their refrigerator. They burned Bob's cigarettes (a 35-year-long habit) in their fireplace, and started walking. First just one block, then two, three, five—and more.
They say God can make crooked things straight, and that happened to Bob. By the sixth month his back pain disappeared; he stood straight and walked without a limp. Their blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels returned to normal. Both took up bicycling and shed 50 pounds, and three years later, at age 69, Bob cycled 3,210 miles from Creston to Ottawa, Ontario, in 60 days.
Theresa says, "No more are we simply enduring retirement. We are living our lives to the hilt! We both have bicycles and love life on the road. And as our physical health improves, we are growing spiritually. We've been born again and are active in our church. Now we have a purpose and sense of direction in our lives."
If you don't want to just endure retirement, the time to do something about your lifestyle is now. Determine what must change in your life, and make a commitment to God that you will start your new life today.
When Bob Anderson was 66 he retired as a building contractor because of debilitating arthritis in his lower back. "I could hardly make it out to the mailbox," Bob said, "so I started driving my old car the 200 feet to get the mail. I had no energy. I was 60 pounds overweight, smoked three packs of cigarettes a day, and was always short of breath."
His wife's health wasn't much better. Theresa suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes and was overweight and extremely depressed.
Then Dr. Hans Diehl came to their town of Creston, British Columbia, with a Live With All Your Heart Seminar. Its message was simple: "Our diets are killing us. Our excesses in meat, rich dairy products, sugar, alcohol, salt, and tobacco must go, or we'll eat and drink ourselves into early graves."
The results of their HeartScreen health evaluation jolted the Andersons into action. Their blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar were all too high. When they realized their rich diet and sedentary lifestyle were contributing to their heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and osteoarthritis, they dumped their vodka down the sink and filled three garbage bags with the "junk" food they cleaned out of their refrigerator. They burned Bob's cigarettes (a 35-year-long habit) in their fireplace, and started walking. First just one block, then two, three, five—and more.
They say God can make crooked things straight, and that happened to Bob. By the sixth month his back pain disappeared; he stood straight and walked without a limp. Their blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels returned to normal. Both took up bicycling and shed 50 pounds, and three years later, at age 69, Bob cycled 3,210 miles from Creston to Ottawa, Ontario, in 60 days.
Theresa says, "No more are we simply enduring retirement. We are living our lives to the hilt! We both have bicycles and love life on the road. And as our physical health improves, we are growing spiritually. We've been born again and are active in our church. Now we have a purpose and sense of direction in our lives."
If you don't want to just endure retirement, the time to do something about your lifestyle is now. Determine what must change in your life, and make a commitment to God that you will start your new life today.
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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