Better Living

A news headline caught my eye: “U.S. Slipping in Life Expectancy.” According to the article the US has slipped from 11th place to 42nd place in the last twenty years. That is quite a drop!

Apparently, we Americans are eating ourselves to death. Obesity is given as one of the reasons for the drop in life expectancy. Our food is killing us.

I don’t know why exactly but I thought of what Jesus had to say in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness.” I thought to myself: “is there a link between America’s increasing disinterest in the Word of God and our decreasing life expectancy?” My conclusion is that there is a link.

The Word of God everywhere celebrates discipline and self-control. The Book of Proverbs is particularly ripe with passages talking about discipline and self-control. One passage says, “Where there is no strong preaching, the people cast off restraint, but happy is he who keeps the law” (Proverbs 29:18). There is a direct relationship between receiving the revelation of God enthusiastically and one’s well-being.

I’m not so much concerned with the quantity of one’s life, but with the quality. Not only are Americans living shorter lives, we are living less abundant lives. One indication is that we are the Aspirin Capital of the World. We consume a disproportionate amount of painkillers because we live such stressed-out lives.

Read and apply God’s Word. I can’t guarantee you will live longer (you might), but I can guarantee you will live better.