Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Live long, live well”   Our Bible verse for today: “I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me.” Psalm 3:5 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “If you snooze you do not lose”   There’s an old saying that goes, “If you snooze you lose.” I disagree. At least in part. That saying is intended to be a cryptic way of discouraging procrastination and in that respect, I suppose it’s true that “If you snooze you do lose.” But when it comes to snoozing at night, as in “getting a good night’s sleep”, if you snooze you win.   The question of course, is how do we accomplish that? How do we succeed in getting a good night’s sleep, every night? The reasons people don’t sleep well vary considerably, but there are some reasons that are common and there are some simple solutions to those common problems.   According to studies conducted by healthnet.com and the Cleveland Clinic, one of the biggest reasons people don’t sleep well is because they don’t have the right mattress. The surface you sleep on is the starting place, the foundation upon which a good night’s sleep is built. If the surface is wrong for you then you will be uncomfortable all night long. Sleep experts agree that a good mattress is essential to a good night’s sleep.   But a good mattress is expensive, right? Well, yes. Yes, it is. As with most things, you get what you pay for. Aimee and I have a Sleep Number mattress. It has a wide variety of settings to adjust the firmness for each of us. Both of us had been having trouble sleeping through the night, often waking with aches and pains in our back, neck, shoulders, arms, and legs. It turned out that our mattress was the problem. We spent the money to purchase a mattress that properly supports all the different pressure points of the body, and doing so went a long way towards dramatically improving the quality of sleep for both of us. But it wasn’t cheap.   Personally, I believe your mattress is the most important piece of furniture in your home. If getting a good night’s sleep is one of the most important things you can do to help improve your health and therefore your overall quality of life (it is), and if your mattress is perhaps the most important factor in determining the quality of your sleep, then your mattress is the most important piece of furniture in your home and it is worth what you pay for it.   How much did you pay for your living room furniture? How about that nice dining room set? How much did you spend to remodel your kitchen, or your bathroom? None of those things will have as big an impact on the quality of your life as will the quality of your mattress.   Why is this discussion an appropriate topic for a devotional message? Because God designed the human body to need good sleep. Therefore, a good night’s sleep is God’s will for you and if you are not getting it, steps need to be taken to correct that. Getting a better mattress may be the first change you should consider. Tomorrow we will consider some other factors that impact our sleep and we will think about some steps we can take to deal with those.   God bless, Pastor Jim     (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Live long, live well”   Our Bible verse for today: “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; you will lie down, and your sleep will be pleasant.” Proverbs 3:24 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Do you like to sleep?”   Do you like to sleep? I like to sleep. Everyone likes to sleep. Well, except maybe for Donald Trump. Rumor has it that he only sleeps 3-4 hours per night and that he does so grudgingly. He believes it to be a waste of time. But the rest of us – we like to sleep.   And that’s a good thing because sleep is good for you. In fact, sleep is essential. The average adult needs 7-8 hours of good sleep each night to be able to function at peak performance. Unfortunately, according to a study conducted by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) from 2013-2022, many adults in our society are sleep deprived. The number seems to vary from state-to-state but anywhere between 30-50% of adults habitually get less than seven hours of sleep per night. Why that number varies by state I don’t know but I do know that my state (Tennessee), rates as one of the least rested states in the nation (48% of us are sleep deprived).   This is a problem because in addition to making a person lethargic and grumpy, sleep deprivation contributes to numerous other health-related problems including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, poor attention span, and depression.   In his book, “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity”, Dr. Peter Attia and his team of researchers concluded that establishing and maintaining a pattern of adequate sleep is a key factor in both short-term and long-term health – especially brain health. Here are a few of their conclusions:   “Poor sleep can take a wrecking ball to both your long-term health and your ability to function day-to-day.”   “Chronic bad sleep is a powerful potential cause of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Sleep, it turns out, it is as crucial to maintaining brain health as it is to brain function.”   “Long term, this thing called sleep also has the power to improve our healthspan in remarkable ways. Just like exercise, sleep is its own kind of wonder drug, with both global and localized benefits to the brain, to the heart, and especially to our metabolism.”   God designed the human body to need adequate sleep. Therefore, it is His will for us that we get adequate sleep. Tomorrow we will consider some ways to improve both the quality and the quantity of our sleep.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Live long, live well”   Our Bible verse for today: “All the days of the oppressed are miserable, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.” Proverbs 15:15 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “I want to be like Jeanie”   In yesterday’s devotional I told you about a book I read a few months ago by the comedian Dick Van Dyke, “An Optimist’s Guide to a Happy Life: 100 Rules for Living to 100.” It is lighthearted and funny, and it takes a practical but whimsical approach to the issues of ageing.     About that same time, I read another similar book with the title “Keep on Keeping on: How to die young, as old as possible.” On the front cover is a picture of an elderly grey-haired couple wearing sweatshirts, jeans, and sunglasses. The lady has bright pink streaks in her hair. Then man has a full beard, he is wearing an orange wool beanie, he has a gold chain around his neck, a boom box on his shoulder, and with big smiles they are jamming to some tune. The book is all about living until you die. Staying young at heart even if you are old in years.   That reminded mean of my former neighbor in my old neighborhood. Her name is Jeanie and she is an 82-year-old widow. She stands about five-foot-nothing and she is petite. But she is active, happy, and always joking around. She hikes, she bakes for her neighbors, she goes places with friends – and she blows her own leaves. My house on that block was at the beginning of the cul-de-sac and hers was at the end. One time last autumn, I was in my front yard, and I noticed this person down the street in Jeanie’s yard blowing leaves. It was a short person, wearing bib overalls and with a ballcap turned around backwards. They had one of those big commercial-sized leaf blowers on their back, and the person was progressively building a huge pile of leaves.   At first, I thought Jeanie had hired someone to clear the leaves for her. But then I realized it was Jeannie. Five-foot nothing, 82-years old, bib overalls, ballcap turned backwards, big honking leaf blower on her back, smiling and humming, clearing her yard of leaves.     I want to be like Jeanie.   Proverbs 15:15 reminds us that those who go through life mumbling and grumbling and constantly finding things to complain about are destined for a life of misery. But those with a bright outlook and a cheerful heart have a continual feast in life. Those folks can find joy in the simple act of blowing leaves, or taking a walk around the neighborhood, or baking cookies for their friends, or in almost anything else.   A key element to living long and living well is that you don’t take life too seriously. Instead, you choose joy, you maintain a bright and sunny disposition, and you just enjoy life as it is under the circumstances as they are. That’s what Jeanie does.   I want to be like Jeanie. How about you?   God bless, Pastor Jim

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Live long, live well”   Our Bible verse for today: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Attitude is everything”   So far in our study this month about living long and living well, we have been thinking about some heavy subjects such as our stewardship responsibility to take good care of our physical body; and about the need for daily exercise; and about maintaining a daily nutrition plan. So, let’s take a moment to lighten-it-up a little.   A couple of months ago, I read a cute little book written by the actor Dick Van Dyke. The title is, “An Optimist’s Guide to a Happy Life: 100 rules for living to 100.” Dick wrote the book as he was turning 100 and it was based largely on his own experience of what it took to live that long, and to live well. About that, he wrote, “I’ve made it to 100, in no small part, because I have stubbornly refused to give in to the bad stuff in life: failures and defeats, personal losses, loneliness and bitterness, the physical and emotional pains of aging, and so much more. That stuff is real, but I have not let it define me. Because, as I see it, to do that would be to throw the towel in on life itself.”   Dick is a funny guy – a comedian on the stage and in life. He is intentional about finding joy and humor in life and then sharing it with others. Also, as we read in the book, he has stayed active. Even in his old age he has continued to act and perform because it is his passion and it gives him a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. He has also stayed involved in projects and causes that are important to him. And even at 100 he still goes to the gym and gets other forms of exercise every day. He also makes it a point to eat right.   But perhaps his greatest asset is his positive attitude. He simply refuses to give in to negative thinking. He chooses joy. He is intentional about filling his life with the things that nurture his soul, and he rejects those things that drain him and steal his joy. A good attitude goes a long, long way towards making a long and happy life.   That’s the picture the Psalmist was painting for us in Psalm 118:24. Each day is a gift from God, and we must make a choice to embrace it, make the best of it, and enjoy it. Aimee and I begin every day by praying together and we always begin by thanking God for the gift of a new day. We resolve to do what the Psalmist instructs in Psalm 118:24 – to rejoice and to be glad. That’s not always easy because we both lead busy lives and we both have professions that can be challenging and sometimes distressing (me as a pastor and her as a clinical therapist.) Sometimes our days are filled with trying to help others navigate times of family dysfunction, or depression and mental illness, or sickness, and sometimes death. Additionally, we have many of the same personal challenges that everyone else has. So, it’s important for us, as it is for you, to maintain a proper perspective and a good attitude about all that life brings to us. Starting the day by remembering and praying Psalm 118:24 can go a long way towards starting each day with the right attitude.   When it comes to having a good quality of life, attitude is everything. Get your attitude right and the rest of life will be better and easier.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Live long, live well”   Our Bible verse for today: “God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you.” Genesis 1:29 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “God’s plan for healthy eating”   God provides good food for us so that we can live a healthy lifestyle. That’s especially true for those of us who live in the USA. Few societies in the history of the world have had as much access to food, and as many choices, as Americans do in our day.   Initially, Adam and Eve were vegetarians. As we read in Genesis 1:29, God gave them plants and fruit that was healthy, delicious, and good for them. Later, He would allow humans to become carnivores, and our diet would then include animal meat. But even then, God limited humans to the best and healthiest of meats. Through the Levitical dietary laws, He forbid them to eat less healthy foods like bottom-feeding shellfish and the meat of scavenger birds.   The point is that God intended for the human diet to be nutritious and healthy, not filled with lots of unhealthy and processed foods. The entire body of Biblical literature regarding food choices encourages us to make healthy choices, and it portrays excessive eating and unhealthy choices as being contrary to the will of God for us.   In his interesting and helpful book, “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity”, Dr. Peter Attia and his team did extensive research regarding nutrition. After exercise, the quality of a person’s nutritional habits over the long-term is the second most important determining factor for health, fitness, and longevity. However, in our society today good nutrition has become complicated and challenging.   Perhaps our biggest challenge is that a lot of the food in our food chain is highly processed and not very good for us. Second, Americans eat entirely too much fast food and restaurant meals, which are often high in calorie content and relatively low in nutritional value.   Dr. Attia’s team also did a deep dive into the most popular diet plans and schemes. They discovered that most of them don’t work long-term. Many of them do successfully help people to lose weight initially, but most of them are unsuccessful at helping us to keep it off long-term. In the final analysis, a simple, basic, balanced diet is the best: Dr. Attia reported, “Nutrition is relatively simple, actually. It boils down to a few basic rules: don’t eat too many calories, or too few; consume sufficient protein and essential fats; obtain the vitamins and minerals you need; and avoid pathogens like E. coli, and toxins like mercury or lead (contaminated food).” That’s it. Just eat a moderate amount of reasonably healthy food; burn more calories than you consume (a little less is better than too much); and get some exercise every day.   God’s plan is for us to stay as healthy as we can for as long as we can. Eating right is a key element to achieving that. A healthy diet, maintained over years and decades, goes a long way towards helping us to live long and to live well.     God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Live long, live well”   Our Bible verse for today: “If you find honey, eat only what you need; otherwise, you’ll get sick from it and vomit.” Proverbs 25:16 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Watch those calories!”   “Hi, my name is Jim and I’m a glutton.” If there is such a thing as “Overeaters Anonymous” I should probably join it. When it comes to food, I have an addictive personality. Sweets are my downfall. Especially ice cream, donuts, cake, cookies, and some kinds of candy. Oh, and bread. I love bread. And pasta. And chips. And, well, food.   I am a glutton. You might not know it to look at me because I am relatively thin and physically fit, but that’s only because my gluttonous tendencies are kept under control. Like the alcoholic who stays sober or the drug addict who stays clean, I have learned to control my addiction to food, but it is a daily battle.   So far this month in our daily devotionals regarding things we can do that will help to improve the length and the quality of our years of life, we have considered the reasons we should take proper care of our body, and we have considered the powerful medicinal effect that exercise has on the body. Now we must consider good nutrition.   Tomorrow we will think about the kinds of food we should and should not be putting into our bodies but first, let’s just think about simple calories. A calorie is a unit of measure of energy released into the body. More precisely, a calorie is energy supplied to the body by the food we consume. It is fuel for the body. Therefore, the body must have calories to function. A lack of caloric intake leads to starvation and eventually the body will shut down because it doesn’t have the fuel it needs to continue to function.   So, we need calories. However, we need calories in the right amount and from the right sources. Too few calories and your body will become emaciated and unhealthy. Too many calories and you will be obese. The trick is to achieve a healthy balance between the two. Generally, eating fewer calories is better than eating too many. As Dr. Peter Attia and his team proved through their research, “Eating fewer calories tends to lengthen lifespan.” In other words, a slight calorie deficit is better than a surplus. Thin people tend to live longer than heavy people.   We will think more about this in the days to come but for today, I encourage all of us to honestly assess the quality of our nutritional habits. Simply as a matter of good stewardship and of taking proper care of the physical body God has given us, it’s essential for us to eat right and in the right amounts.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Live long, live well”   Our Bible verse for today: “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.”  Proverbs 17:22 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Joy adds life to your years”   “Life is hard, and then you die.”, said the pessimist. “You have no idea how hard it is to be me!”, said the self-absorbed drama queen. “Everybody is against me.”, said the conspiracy theorist with the victim mentality.   Do you remember Eeyore the donkey from the Winnie the Pooh stories? Eeyore is a pessimistic, gloomy, depressed, grey stuffed donkey known for his melancholy demeanor and for the fact that his tail frequently falls off. He goes through life with his head down, always expecting the worst. And sure enough, he always manages to attract the worst to himself. (There is a general real-life principle that maintains that we tend to attract that which we expect to happen.)   Many people go through life sounding and acting like Eeyore. It’s sad to watch, and it’s difficult to be around such people for long. I once knew a guy in the gym who was like that. He was one of the most negative people I have ever known. On the one hand, he was committed to maintaining good physical fitness, and he was trying to stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible, but why? I mean, why would you want to live a long life if you’re that miserable?   There’s a better way to live. Smart people are intentionally joyful. They choose joy. There are many passages of Scripture which encourage and even command God’s people to be joyful. In Proverbs 17:22 we read that a joyful heart is good medicine. That’s more than just a clever illustration – it’s medically true, and studies have shown it to be true over-and-over again. Those people who have a joyful disposition tend to be healthier and to live longer than those who are perpetually negative and gloomy.   There are lots of ways in which we can be intentional about being joyful. One is to make it a habit to count your blessings frequently. Another is to structure your life in such a way as to minimize the negative you are exposed to and maximum positive influences (Philippians 4:8). I have a life principle (a general rule of thumb) that I try to abide by in this respect. It goes, “Reject that which drains you; embrace that which gives life.” I try to be intentional about filling my life with lots of affirming and nurturing influences.   Another way in which we can remain intentionally joyful is by surrounding ourselves with other joyful people – and there is no better place to find a bunch of joyful people than in church. One of the outstanding characteristics of a healthy church is that it will be a happy place filled with joyful people. If a joyful heart is good medicine; and if a healthy church is filled with joy; that means church attendance is good medicine.   I encourage you to get a shot of joy this Sunday. Attend a church that is filled with joyful people. It will be good medicine for you and you will leave there feeling better. Rather than just adding years to your life, a joyful heart adds life to your years. You will probably live longer, but you will certainly live better if you have a joyful heart.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Live long, live well”   Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” Romans 12:1 (CS)   Our thought for today: “Invest well for the future”   Romans 12:1 is a classic verse of Scripture which reminds us to take care of our body and then offer it to God for His use in His kingdom-building work. We are to honor Him in what we do with our body, but we are also to honor Him in how we take care of it. Taking proper care of your body is an act of worship and stewardship, and doing so ensures that your body will continue to be useful to the Lord for a long time to come.   In his book, “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity”, Dr. Peter Attia offered an interesting insight regarding the long-term benefits of exercise and physical fitness:   “I think of strength training as a form of retirement savings. Just as we want to retire with enough money saved up to sustain us for the rest of our lives, we want to reach older age with enough of a “reserve” of muscle (and bone density) to protect us from injury and allow us to continue to pursue the activities we enjoy. It is much better to save and invest and plan ahead, letting your wealth build gradually over decades, than to scramble to try to scrape together an individual retirement account in your late fifties and hope and pray that the stock market gods help you out. Like investing, strength training is also cumulative, its benefits compounding. The more of a reserve you build up, early on, the better off you will be over the long run.”   In another chapter he reports that his team’s research revealed, “More than any other tactical domain we discuss in this book, exercise has the greatest power to determine how you will live out the rest of your life … It delays the onset of chronic diseases, pretty much across the board, but it is also amazingly effective at extending and improving healthspan.”   And even if you have not been an exerciser up to this time, starting now is better than not starting at all: “Going from zero weekly exercise to just ninety minutes per week can reduce your risk of dying from all causes by 14 percent. It’s very hard to find a drug that can do that.”   Taking proper care of your body is an act of worship and stewardship. It is also an investment in your future. I encourage all of us to be intentionally active. Stay as healthy as you can for as long as you can.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Live long and live well”   Our Bible verse for today: “Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:30-31 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Become functionally younger”   There’s a difference between your biological age and your functional age. Your biological or chronological age is simply a matter of the number of years old you are. Your functional age depends on the physical condition of your body. Remember Caleb from Joshua 14:11? Chronologically he was eighty-five but functionally he was much younger.  I know people in their forties who have the body of a sixty-year-old, and I also know people who have bodies that are functionally much younger than their actual years would suggest. Caleb was one of those.   To a large degree, it is physical fitness that makes the difference. In his great book, “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity”, Dr. Peter Attia and his team of researchers came to this conclusion: “This is where we see the true power of exercise – its ability to transform people, to make them functionally younger. It’s quite incredible.”   Your functional age is a result of how well you have taken care of yourself. Exercise and good nutrition are critical factors which help to determine how healthy your body is. And here’s the thing: even if you have not taken good care of yourself up to this point, you can start now and it will have a transformative effect on your body. Your functional age will begin to go backwards, and you will soon start to become younger than your years.   Isaiah 40:30-31 carries both spiritual and physical meaning. Spiritually, the lesson is that we draw strength and stamina from the Lord which enables us to face our challenges in life – to lean into them and to keep going. This is spiritual, mental, and emotional renewal which then gives us the physical strength to go on.   However, the verse also clues us into the truth that it is possible for older folks to be functionally younger than their years. While youths are fainting and becoming weary, older folks often find a second wind and can push on while others are sitting it out. This is especially true for older folks who treat their body like the temple of the Holy Spirit that it is. As a matter of good stewardship and of taking good care of the temple of the Spirit, these folks eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, properly manage stress, and they do it all as a matter of spiritual discipline so their body is available long-term to be used by Jesus for His kingdom-building purposes.   You can soar through your days as if on wings of eagles – spiritually and physically. But it does take some discipline and effort – both spiritual and physical discipline.   By-the-way, have you invested well for your retirement years? I do mean financially, yes. But how about physically? We will think about that tomorrow. For today, I encourage you to get some exercise. It will help to make you functionally younger than your years.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571

Good morning, everyone,   Our theme for this month: “Live long and live well”   Our Bible verse for today: “Youths may become faint and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:30-31 (CSB)   Our thought for today: “Exercise is medicine”   For many years before Aimee and I married and established our home together, I lived in a community on the other end of the county that wasn’t exactly a retirement community, but it was populated primarily by retirees. It’s a beautiful community with great amenities like five golf courses, eleven lakes, lots of hiking and bike trails, tennis courts, pickleball courts, and multiple swimming pools. It also has a very good exercise facility which is owned and operated by our local hospital. It is called the “Cumberland Medical Center Wellness Complex”. The staff there all wear tee shirts with the slogan, “Exercise is Medicine”.   There’s a lot of truth to that slogan. In his great book, “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity”, Dr. Peter Attia and his team of medical researchers discovered that of all the variables that help to contribute to good health and long life, none had a greater impact than regular moderate exercise. Here’s some of what they discovered:   “High aerobic fitness was associated with the greatest survival (rates).”   “The fitter you are the lower your risk of death… there is no other intervention, drug or otherwise, that can rival this magnitude of benefit. Exercise is so effective against diseases of aging … that it has often been compared to medicine.”   “Exercise really does act like a drug. To be more precise, it prompts the body to produce its own, endogenous drug-like chemicals. When we are exercising, our muscles generate molecules known as cytokines that send signals to other parts of our bodies, helping to strengthen our immune system and stimulate the growth of new muscle and stronger bones.”   “Muscle helps us survive old age.”   “The more effort you’re willing to put into it now, the more benefit you’ll reap in the future.”   When I lived in that community, I enjoyed working out every day at the Wellness Complex. Almost everyone there were senior citizens, but I was amazed at how fit many of them were. Even in their 70s and 80s they were lifting weights, walking and jogging, using the cardio machines, playing tennis and pickle ball, swimming, hiking, and more. I also admired some of the other older folks who had not taken very good care of themselves up to that point, but who were now making the effort to get healthier. Some of them were even pushing walkers around the indoor track!   I have run out of room this morning in this devotional and haven’t yet commented on our verse for today and how it applies both physically and spiritually. So, we will come back to that again tomorrow. For now, I want to encourage you to take your medicine! Get up, get out, and do some exercise. It will go a long way towards helping you to live long and to live well.   God bless, Pastor Jim   (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

Copyright © 2026 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571