Here’s the third of an eight-part devotional for men based upon my chapter on health in Coach Joe Gibbs best-selling book, Gameplan for Life. The devotional was featured by the Men of Integrity ministry of Christianity Today. I hope you enjoy the series. Here’s Part 3 of 8:
THE PHYSICAL WHEEL
THE SERIES’ THEME: Healthy Through and Through. What does it mean to be a truly healthy man of God?
KEY BIBLE VERSE: You surely know that your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives. (1 Corinthians 6:19, CEV) Dig Deeper: Proverbs 3:7-8
When NASCAR racing teams prepare for a race, they put the cars through a series of tests to check out all the systems in these expensive machines. Such tests are designed to either prevent problems before they happen, or find them early, when they are far less expensive to fix.
Though the cost to build the best race cars is well into six figures—not to mention the millions of dollars it takes annually to staff and support a team—your body is far more valuable than any automobile. Why wouldn’t you want to treat it with just as much care and respect as NASCAR mechanics and technicians lavish on [their] cars? To take care of your “temple” means seeing a doctor regularly—not only in an emergency or when your wife begs you or when you’re forced to in order to buy an insurance policy.
When a disease or disorder proves incurable, physical health involves learning to cope and adapt. Can you see why the physical wheel may actually be the least important? With good emotional, relational, and spiritual health, a person can still be highly healthy, even though his or her body may not be “whole.”
MY RESPONSE: To do a better job at taking care of my physical health, I would be wise to make the following changes:
1)
2)
3)
PRAYER FOR THE SERIES: Dear Creator-God, show me what I need to do or change to be a truly healthy man of God; guide me as I strive to care for my physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual health.
I have a free assessment tool that can help you evaluate your four wheels of health. You can take it now, or at the end of this devotional series. You can download it for free here.
You can learn also more about this principle in my book, 10 Essentials of Happy, Healthy People: Becoming and staying highly healthy. Autographed copies are available here.

Here’s the entire series:

• Part 1 – Introduction
• Part 2 – The Four Wheels of Health
• Part 3 – The Physical Wheel of Health
• Part 4 – The Emotional Wheel of Health
• Part 5 – The Relational Wheel of Health
• Part 6 – The Spiritual Wheel of Health
• Part 7 – Examine Your Wheels
• Part 8 – Concluding Bible Study

Adapted from Game Plan for Life (Tyndale, 2009) by permission. All rights reserved by the copyright holder and/or the publisher. May not be reproduced.