Blessing in Physical Activity

And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Genesis 2:15.
One of the first laws of the being is that of action. Every organ of the body has its appointed work, upon the development of which depends its strength. The normal action of all the organs gives vigor and life; inaction brings decay and death.
To the dwellers in Eden was committed the care of the garden, “to dress it and to keep it.” … God appointed labor as a blessing to man, to occupy his mind, to strengthen his body, and to develop his faculties. In mental and physical activity, Adam found one of the highest pleasures of his holy existence.
A proportionate exercise of all the organs and faculties of the body is essential to the best work of each. When the brain is constantly taxed while the other organs of the living machinery are inactive, there is a loss of strength, physical and mental.
Those whose habits are sedentary should, when the weather will permit, exercise in the open air every day, summer or winter. Walking is preferable to riding or driving, for it brings more of the muscles into exercise. The lungs are forced into healthy action, since it is impossible to walk briskly without inflating them….
Full, deep inspirations of pure air, which fill the lungs with oxygen, purify the blood. They impart to it a bright color and send it, a life-giving current, to every part of the body. A good respiration soothes the nerves; it stimulates the appetite and renders digestion more perfect; and it induces sound, refreshing sleep.
Jesus was an earnest, constant worker. Never lived there among men another so weighted with responsibilities…. Yet His was a life of health. Physically as well as spiritually He was represented by the sacrificial lamb, “without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:19. In body as in soul He was an example of what God designed all humanity to be through obedience to His laws.
The Faith I Live By p. 232
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for an important unspoken request. LS
—-please pray for my friend Denise. she had back surgery 13 weeks ago and last week they went to take and x-ray of her back and she bent her back to where it fractured a vertebra. she is going to have surgery on Tuesday Morning to put a rod in her back other wise she will not be able to walk. M
—-Please pray that my friend enemies will fall and that she will be free in Jesus name. Please pray for her protection and that she will not be afraid anymore. Rosemary
—-Thank you everyone who prayed for my little granddaughter Emily who was being bullied in school. Her parents have decided to take her out of this school where she has been having so much trouble with the mean kids and she will be going back to the nice little country school that she went to last year and she did so well at. She is so happy! This morning she was saying that she tells her older brother when he is mad at someone that God says to “love our enemies.”
What a lesson to learn from a little 9 year old girl whose parents say they don’t believe in God. Please pray for her parents also. Thank you. GOD! Connie
—-Please pray for fellow librarian’s husband. He had an accident resulting in a serious head injury. Wanangwa
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Dear Friends,
At church this week, I told the children’s story. I thought I would share it with you this morning.
Four-year-old Rosa Lee loved her grandpa. He told such wonderful stories and spent time with her every evening after he came home from work. No matter what he had to do, he took time to explain it to her. He was the most important person in her life.
Grandpa was a good man, but he had one bad habit that was a very bad habit indeed. He chewed tobacco. Since tobacco cannot be swallowed, he spit the juice into a can. Grandma hated that habit of his, but he still persisted chewing it no matter how often she begged him to stop.
Rosa Lee, however, didn’t mind his habit a bit. She thought everything Grandpa did was just fine. In fact, his apple jack chewing tobacco smelled good to her. So good that one day while he was at work and Grandma was busy in the kitchen, Rosa Lee snuck into his room, opened the drawer to his desk, and pulled out his plug of tobacco. She held it up to her nose and sniffed. It smelled so good. Unwrapping a corner of it, she took a bite.
Oh! It tasted terrible! Immediately she spit it out, but a little of the juice must have been swallowed as she became instantly sick to her stomach. Instead of going to her grandma, Rosa Lee ran and hid under the dining room table. How miserable she felt! Her head hurt and her stomach ached, but still she hid.
Now Grandma must have discovered what had happened because many times that day, she walked by that table. She must have been hoping that she would crawl out from under the table and confess what she had done and ask for help to take away the sickening effects of Grandpa’s bad habit.
But no. Rosa Lee stayed there in a miserable little heap and said nothing for hours.
We laugh and think how foolish Rosa Lee was, but how often we do the same. We are sin-sick and in need of a Saviour but we plod on in misery day by day without coming to the only One Who can help us. We stay in the condition Isaiah describes, “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.” “we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Isa 1:6; 64:6
Our Dear Redeemer pleads, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” He promises, ” If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
How foolish it would be if we did not come to Jesus and receive the help and forgiveness He longs to provide. It would be like Rosa Lee on that day so long ago who spent a very miserable day.
May we heed the counsel of the True Witness and receive the help we so much need is my prayer. (Rev 3:14-22)
Rose