<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

It Is Written

John Bradshaw

Five Steps to Safeguard Your Health

Coming up next, please stay tuned for It is Written, presented by Pastor John Bradshaw.

I think we are basically when it comes to seatbelts.

The modern seatbelt was invented in 1959 by an engineer at Volvo.

New vehicles weren't required to have seatbelts in the United States until 1968.

And it wasn't until the mid-80s that states started making the wearing of seatbelts mandatory.

But now, authorities say that wearing seatbelts saves as many as 15, 000 people a year in this country, and of course, many more around the world.

We're convinced now about smoking, I think.

Well, there are still plenty of people who smoke.

Doctors no longer prescribe tobacco products for lung ailments like they used to years ago.

Smoking isn't permitted on public transport.

I can recall sitting on a plane 1 road behind the smoking section.

But now we see cancer death rates trending downwards in the United States, thanks largely to improved treatment for lung cancer and because fewer Americans are smoking.

We figured out that mercury is bad for you.

And we know to put our children in car seats, which like seatbelts, weren't mandated until the mid 1980s.

And the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed this, I think.

Kindly, with malice toward none, and in the hope that this will benefit you or someone you know or love." When the pandemic broke out, it became clear that some people were more vulnerable than others.

We heard about comorbidities, additional diseases or conditions that might be present in a person.

If you had certain comorbidities, they could make COVID-19 a lot more challenging.

If you had advanced liver cancer, say, and then you get hit with an aggressive virus, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that that could complicate matters.

Emphysema, chronic bronchitis, rough when it comes to COVID-19, understandable.

And some of those comorbidities, not much you can do about them.

It's very hard to wind the clock back on emphysema, for example.

No magic wand to take that away, meaning that if COVID-19 comes near, it's a serious threat.

It was during the pandemic that a lot of people realized they had comorbidities that they could do something about.

The pandemic arrived and there were literally millions of people who would have been safer had they not been in the position they were in.

Now you understand, I'm not finding fault.

It's when your health is endangered that you realize just how important your health is.

I spoke with a woman recently who told me that from out of nowhere, she was struck down by what she described as an aggressive form of cancer.

She said, at that time, everything changed in my life.

I was ready to do whatever I had to do to fight it and try to regain my health.

She told me treatment was tough, but she came through well, and today she's doing great.

Isn't it better, as far as you can, to avoid being ill and putting yourself at additional risk?

Even the healthiest people can come down with cancer or have a stroke.

Quoting now from the CDC's website, Prediabetes puts you at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

And diabetes is a significant comorbidity in terms of COVID-19.

Not that diabetics were ever more likely to get COVID-19, but the American Diabetes Association says, people with diabetes are more likely to have serious complications from COVID-19.

In general, people with diabetes are more likely to have more severe symptoms and complications when infected with any virus.

So if you could do something about it, wouldn't you?

Type 1 diabetes is where the pancreas produces little or no insulin.

Your body needs insulin to allow glucose to enter your cells and produce energy.

There's no known way to prevent type 1 diabetes, and about 1.6 million Americans have it.

But type 2 diabetes, which is often called adult-onset diabetes, now that can be treated.

In fact, according to the CDC, it can be prevented or delayed through lifestyle.

In fact, the CDC says that major risk factors for type 2 diabetes include age, if you're a little older, physical inactivity, and being overweight.

And of course, those risk factors are all kind of connected.

You're driving in a car, you put on a seat belt in case of an accident.

You wear sunscreen and a hat when you go out into the sun and you put your babies in car seats.

And as founding father Benjamin Franklin is said to have advised, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

So what can a person do to take care of themselves a little better?

I'm going to share with you what the experts say and give you a number of easy, helpful ways that you can tilt the balances in your favor.

No, this isn't to say you're going to avoid every illness that comes by.

But it is to say that God has given us a lot of guidance that we'd be better off following than ignoring.

David wrote in Psalm 139 verse 14, I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

And John wrote in 3 John 2, Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

This matters to God, and it matters to us because our health is important and it's under attack.

So how can you protect yourself against ill health?

I'll give you 5 simple steps in just a moment.

Health – you don't know how important it is until you don't have it.

Find out how the immune system works and its important role in guarding your health in How to Boost Your Immunity, Part 1 of It Is Written's limited series, Next Level Health.

To receive this free DVD, call 800-253-3000 or visit iiwoffer.com.

Learn about simple changes you can make to live a healthy life.

It costs governments billions of dollars a year.

The Kaiser Family Foundation said a couple of years ago that the average cost of employer-sponsored health insurance for annual premiums was $7, 188 for single coverage and $20, 576 for family coverage.

Back to Menu

Five Steps to Safeguard Your Health

Transcript

Sponsor

Recorded

Related

Running the Race

28m

The Immortal Women

28m

Not Guilty

28m

Ancient Wisdom, Present Power Part 2

28m

Overcoming Addiction

30m

Overcoming Obesity

28m

Time Well Spent

28m

More Than Meets the Eye: The Remarkable Patricia Bath

28m

Grateful

28m

How to Have Faith

28m

Immanuel God with Us

Immanuel God with Us- Part 3

28m

All Eyes Looking in the Wrong Direction

All Eyes Looking in the Wrong Direction- Part 2

29m

Sound Doctrine