Here’s the first of an eight-part devotional for men. It’s based upon a chapter on physical health that I wrote for Coach Joe Gibbs’ best-selling book, Gameplan for Life. The devotional series was featured by the Men of Integrity ministry of Christianity Today. That chapter, and this series, are based upon my book, 10 Essentials of Happy, Healthy People: Becoming and staying highly healthy.

I hope you enjoy the series. Here’s Part 1 of 8. I’ll be posting a new part each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday through the end of November:

Taking good care of our bodies should be important to the serious Christ-follower. After all, the believer’s body is God’s temple (1 Cor. 6:19) and God shouldn’t have to live in a shabby, unkempt shack. But as we’ll see in this week’s readings by Dr. Walt Larimore, good health isn’t simply about how well we take care of our physical bodies—as important as that is.

“The Bible focuses on pursing physical health, emotional health, spiritual health, and healthy relationships with our family and others,” says Dr. Larimore. “I call these elements the four wheels of health, the importance of which has been confirmed by thousands of scientific studies.”

This series focuses on these four wheels of health—and how to keep our lives rolling along more smoothly.

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

Also … check out these featured Men of Integrity Bible studies:

• Letting Christ Transform Us: The apostle John moved from being known as a fiery “Son of Thunder” to “the disciple Jesus loved.” Why the big change and what does it mean for your own identity as a transformed man of God? This study of select passages from John and 1 John offers answers.
• Caring Commitment: Here are insights from Scripture on what it means to be a truly loving Christian husband.

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.