Walk with Jesus
My writing buddy, Katherine Pasour, writes a guest post for us this week. She is the author of the newly released, Honoring God with My Body: Journey to Wellness and a Healthy Lifestyle. I have learned so much from this book! Today, she writes about the importance of walking with Jesus for both our physical and spiritual health. You’ll see many of the health habits our doctors suggest for us today were in place when Jesus walked on earth.
Enjoy this post and discover a way to win a copy of Katherine’s book!
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew.
(Matthew 4:18a, NIV*)
Have you ever considered how many miles Jesus must have walked during His time on earth? Scripture documents extensive travel by our Lord during His three years of ministry. Since walking was the primary mode of travel in the region, Jesus and His disciples put in long distances.
Often we tend to focus primarily on the spiritual gifts we receive from our relationship with Jesus. And rightly so! When we accept Jesus as our Savior we are born again—renewed—we are a new creation.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! (2nd Corinthians 5:17)
When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we have the promise of eternal life with Him.
“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)
But what can we learn from Jesus about our physical health?
Two aspects of our Lord’s life attest to an emphasis on habits of wellness:
- Jesus led a physically active lifestyle—His work as a carpenter and his habit of walking.
- The typical diet of His culture featured healthy eating habits—many foods from plants, fish, and olive oil.
Jesus walked—a lot.
During the three years of His earthly ministry, Jesus traveled extensively throughout Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. While Jerusalem and Bethany are fairly close to each other, Nazareth of Galilee are more than fifty miles from Jerusalem, and Caesarea Philippi and Tyre are more than one hundred miles north of Jerusalem. That’s a lot of steps!
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,1 few lifestyle habits have as much power to positively impact our health as physical activity. The benefits of an active lifestyle include:
- Strengthening our heart muscle
- Strengthening bones and muscles
- Reduced likelihood of developing heart disease
- Reduced risk of diabetes
- Reduced risk of some cancers
- Helps maintain a healthier weight
- Improves mental health/reduces stress
- Reduced risk of osteoporosis
- Reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease
- Improves balance and reduces risk of falls
- Helps us live longer with a better quality of life
That’s amazing, isn’t it? An active lifestyle has so many benefits for us.2
What kinds of foods did Jesus eat?
The typical diet during the time of Jesus consisted of lots of bread. Wheat or barley were usually crushed by hand to make the bread—“whole grain bread”—before this type of bread became a recommendation for a healthy diet. People also consumed beans, legumes, cucumbers, eggs from duck or other fowl, cheese, dates, and fish. Lamb and goat would have been occasional options, most likely not part of their daily diet.3
So, before the benefits of a plant based diet with the addition of fish were recognized, Jesus and the people of His time, were eating what nutritionists advocate for us today—lots food from plants, whole grains, fish, and limited meat.
Walk with Jesus.
Walk with Jesus
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)
Our relationship with Jesus is essential for our spiritual journey, but we can learn much from His healthy lifestyle as well. Are there ways you can add physical activity to your walk with Jesus? Can you add more plant based foods to your plate?
Wishing you joy and blessings on your walk with Jesus.
*All Scripture is from the NIV
1Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/pa-health/
2Note: Katherine’s recently published book, Honoring God with My Body: Journey to Wellness and a Healthy Lifestyle provides guidelines for adding physical activity as a lifestyle habit.
3“What did Jesus Eat” https://www.faithward.org/what-did-jesus-eat/
More About Katherine and How to Connect with Her
Katherine Pasour is an author, teacher, farmer, and speaker with a passion for service. She blogs regularly at www.katherinepasour.com with a focus on faith, wellness, and the lessons nature teaches. Psalm 139 reminds us that we are God’s special creation, “fearfully and wonderfully made”, thus Katherine believes we should nurture all aspects of wellness in service to our Lord. She is a regular contributor to Refresh Bible Study Magazine, published by Lighthouse Bible Studies. Katherine has articles in several Bible Study compilations, Heart Renovation: A Construction Guide to Godly Character (2018); Feed Your Soul with the Word of God (2019); and The Power to Make a Difference (2019). Katherine’s wellness Bible study, Honoring God with My Body: Journey to Wellness and a Healthy Lifestyle, published by Morgan James, is available from all major booksellers. You can connect with Katherine on Facebook and Instagram at KatherinePasourAuthor and Twitter @KatherinePasour.
Win a Copy of Katherine’s Book
All readers who reply to today’s post will be entered in a drawing for a free copy of Katherine’s book! It’s simple: scroll down a bit and drop in a comment by October 28 11:59 p.m. Good luck!
Great information for our health. Loved the list of benefits for an active lifestyle!
Thanks for the reminder to walk and exercise more because it helps us to parallel the life of Christ better and enjoy those physical benefits for our bodies.
I like the physical visual of walking on the road with Jesus as a reflection of our spiritual walk with Him
Awesome advice, Katherine. We do need to stay focused on those healthy choices and now we must read labels for additives and different preparation methods in food. In biblical days the food wasn’t genetically altered like today. I think that is why so many people are intolerant to certain food. Thanks, Candyce, for hosting Katherine.
I agree, Barbara, our food isn’t as “fresh” as most foods would have been in Biblical times and certainly has many more additives, preservatives, and chemicals that our unsuspecting stomachs don’t often tolerate well. Although, hopefully we don’t eat as much salted fish now that we have other methods of preservation. Food preserved with salt has LOTS of sodium. Thanks for stopping by to share encouragement.
Such great observations and gentle encouragement, Katherine. Thank you!
Thank you, Annie. Speaking of gentle encouragement–you are a wonderful role model for us. Thank you!
Wow I loved this devotion filled with scripture which I love. Thanks for introducing us to Katherine Pasour. I signed up for her newsletter. I believe in living as healthy as possible. As I am now in my seventies lots of different health issues popup from time to time. I am very thankful that I do not have to take any meds on a daily basis. I do take vitamins. The book, Honoring God with my Body, will be a blessing to read and will make a difference in our lives and also since I am sure it is filled with scripture The Lord be beside us all as we celebrate each day the Lord gives us.
Hi Elsie, thanks for your kind comment. Yes…you are right! Honoring God with My Body is filled with scripture because I can’t do without God’s word to guide me to make healthy choices. He is so encouraging and gives us strength to make those hard decisions. I hope and pray others will benefit from the spiritual guidance, practical advice, and encouragement found in the pages of Honoring God with My Body. Wishing you blessings on the journey, Elsie.
It’s good to hear from you Elsie. I’m glad you found Katherine’s post helpful and encouraging. I love her writing and her commitment to sharing God’s Word. Thanks for the feedback.
Having walked where Jesus walked, I loved reading Katherine’s guest post today. The terrain in Israel is difficult and hilly. Every trip there I’m amazed at how much walking was done by our Lord over such difficult paths. Thanks to Katherine for the reminder to “walk” as our Lord did, physically being strengthened and spiritually strengthening ourselves in Him as we walk with Jesus!
Hi Carolyn! How awesome it must be to walk the ground that Jesus walked. I hope to do that one day. Thanks for adding the info about the difficult terrain. I hadn’t thought about that. Katherine’s post is both lovely and loving. Praise Jesus for showing how to live in multiple ways.
Carolyn, I’ve not been blessed to walk where Jesus walked. I hope to someday. Thank you for sharing about your journey in Israel and for your encouragement. Wishing you continued blessing on your walk with Jesus.
Thanks for sharing Katherine’s perspective, Candyce. We so often fail to understand how our bodies work best. Great insights. God bless!
That’s right, Nancy. And the busy lifestyles and conveniences today decrease our opportunities for physical activity. But, as in all things, we should put first things first. If we take care of our spiritual and physical health first, everything else will fall into place more easily.
We are “fearfully and wonderful made” by God’s own hand. Oh, my, what a blessing He has given us by His amazing creation, Nancy! And we have the opportunity to honor Him by caring for His gift to us. Thank you for your kind encouragement. Wishing you joy and blessing on your walk with Jesus.
I love it when I come expecting a blessing from visiting with my friend Ms. Candyce, and then get doubly blessed when I see she’s having Ms. Katherine guest blog. Blessings all around today. I’ve long considered trying to estimate how much Jesus travelled (thinking too that most of it was on foot) based on his documented travels in God’s Word. Maybe when I retire.
Thank you for the kind words, J.D. You brought a smile to my face. If you get around to estimating the distance Jesus traveled while on earth, please let us know! Sounds intriguing.
J.D,, my friend, you bless us with your encouragement. The estimates I read for the distances Jesus walked as I researched this post were huge. I need to go back and look at those. Thank you for the reminder. Wishing you blessings, joy, and healing on the Cross-Dubya.
Candyce, I follow Katherine’s work. She is dedicated in her word and walk with the Lord. Thank you for sharing her work here on your site. You are a kind and generous woman who God continues to bless.
Thanks, Jackie. Katherine has been an inspiration to me and I’m happy to support her.
Blessings to you!
You are so right, Jackie, Candyce is a kind and generous person and has been so encouraging to me on my walk with Jesus. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I’m so grateful for your encouragement.
Great post. Yay for walking! Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
Katherine has a lot of knowledge to share on health and wellness. And she walks the talk! Thanks for stopping by.