New Year - New You

New Year always mark a fresh start to things; at the same time, don't forget to look back to 2010 and thank God for the blessings He has bestowed upon you. It could be as simple as good health, peace of mind, daily provision of food and shelter and friendships forged.

As a family, we committed to the Lord in prayer our goals and aspirations for the new year. It's good to hear the prayers of our children (and I believe God loves to hear the prayers of His children too!) desiring to spend more quality time with the Lord to get to know Him better. They committed their plans to attend pre-baptismal classes before undergoing water baptism this year. I guess it's a good time for them and they're of age to understand what they are doing.

As our children grow older, they become more self-conscious especially of their physique. This could be due to what they see or hear over the media/net and what their friends tell them. The younger one in particular would like to trim down by watching what she eats. She has also gone down to the park to do some exercise with her sister. She has started on the journey in displaying self-control in the area of her health, and one can see that she's really trying, though the temptations to indulge are there.

One Scripture verse comes to mine: "On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." 1 Tim 4:7-8

The apostle Paul talks about bodily discipline being of little profit in the context of the time-frame that believers have in eternity. We are to ensure that we build up our spiritual body first; godliness speaks of the inner character and beauty that God desires in each one of us. The Bible also says that without holiness, no one can see the Lord (Heb 12:14). At the recent Watch Night Service, I also spoke on a similar theme concerning building our spirit man,How have you grown in 2010? , mentioning 5 areas of growth that we can evaluate ourselves basing on the passage taken from 2 Pet 3:10-18:

1. Spotless
2. Blameless
3. Peace with God
4. Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
5. Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ

Do get the message CD if you want to know more. Let me now move on to the physical part which is of little profit. Note that Paul didn't say it was of no profit. I believe each one of us need to keep our physical body healthy in order to be fit not only to be able to work and support our family, but also to serve the Lord and contribute to the needs of society.

To keep oneself fit and healthy we need to exercise regularly (at least 3 times a week for about 30 minutes), watch our diet (lots of fruits/vegetable/plain water) and have a good sleep (6-7 hours). I shared with my daughters these info and the need to cut down on consuming trans fat foods which can be found in many snacks and fast food. Reading a health magazine, I found out that a small amount of trans fat is found naturally in some animal-based foods such as meat and milk. It is mainly found in processed foods such as vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, fast/snack/fried/baked foods, salad dressings, products made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Cutting down on trans fat foods will help to keep our cholesterol levels in check. As one grows older, we have also to contend with hypertension. This is where we need to reduce our salt and sugar intake. You could also supplement your diet with some vitamin pills.

Wishing you a healthy and godly start to the new year.