Today is National Triglycerides Day and a good opportunity to use a devotional as a public service announcement. This day was created in 2018 as way to get people to consider one of the many health issues developing in America.
TIME reports that “Triglycerides are a type of fat (or lipid) naturally made in your liver; when you eat, its production increases. Excess calories are converted into triglycerides and stored in fat cells in the bloodstream, so they can be used for energy boosts and temperature regulation when needed.
“This process differs from another well-known lipid, cholesterol—which builds cells and plays a part in making hormones. Both triglycerides and cholesterol are essential for keeping your body functioning properly. For instance, without enough triglycerides, you’d likely struggle with fatigue, feeling cold, dry skin, and even potential malnutrition since lipids are necessary for absorbing some types of nutrients…
“In a 2020 report, t he National Institutes of Health estimated that between 25% to 30% of the U.S. population had abnormal triglyceride levels…The American Heart Association (AHA) notes that high triglycerides are becoming increasingly prevalent in the U.S. and other countries, driven in large part by a rise in Type 2 diabetes cases.”1
Years ago, I knew a man whose triglycerides and cholesterol numbers were through the roof! His blood was more white than red, looking like marbled meat in the tube. The doctors told him he needed to lose weight immediately and change his diet because he was a walking timebomb. Unfortunately, he did neither.
Dearly beloved, God gave us a gift. He gave us life and a body, an earthly tabernacle to use while on this side of eternity. Though we should never have an inordinate infatuation with ourselves, health fads, working out, and other such things, we should take care of our bodies if for no other reason than to show the Lord appreciation for what He has given us.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 asks, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (20) For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Undisciplined and excessive lives do not bring glory to the Lord.
The fact that we want to care for ourselves is reflected in the statement made in Ephesians 5:29. “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church.” Part of nourishing and cherishing our flesh is taking it to the doctor on a regular basis for checkups and doing the basic screenings that are recommended.
Granted, there is only so much we can do. Our body is under the curse and susceptible to many things. Eventually, we are going to break down and fall apart. This is part of the reason why we read 2 Corinthians 5:4. “For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.” If you haven’t started groaning in your tabernacle, it’s because you’re too young. Stick around for a while and you’ll find out the truth of this verse!
Ultimately, though, our physical health is of secondary importance. 3 John 1:2 says, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” Imagine for a moment that your spiritual health was only as good as your physical health. How healthy would you be?
Would you be the GOAT at the gym? Or would you be sick and in bed? Worse yet, would you be in the hospital, the nursing home, or at the funeral home?
Take care of your health. If your numbers are high, do your best to get them down, even if that means shedding a few pounds and walking every day. More importantly, take care of your spiritual health.
1https://time.com/6281961/high-triglycerides-causes-treatment/
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