Christian Living

Equal Exercise

by paul hoffmaster
03/06/22
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Keeping one’s body and mind actively engaged is an essential part of societal interaction.  People are not created to be self-sufficient, but a part of a large picture, known as community.  Too many are soloists, rather than members of a choir that makes beautiful music.  Each person in an orchestra or choir has an important part to play in creating harmony.  Practice and discipline are essential to the individual and their place in society. 

I have noticed as I journey toward the “horizon” my body seems to have more and more temper tandems.  Pains of protest and indifference are flouted by a body that is tired of carrying its “oversized load.”  I guess I can’t put all the blame on my body, for to a large degree I have not respected the sovereignty of my physical temple and filled it with “unhealthy” things.  When Jesus entered the Temple and saw the “unholy” things that were filling the courts, He cleared out the offenders.  So what does one do when his body is giving up?  As much as is humanly possible, he must not let the body “shut down.”  Exercise as much as possible.  Moving just one inch is more than not moving at all.  Eat and drink what can help keep your body awake from its slumber. 

There is a flip side to the physical and that is the spiritual aspect.  Christians need to spend time “shoring up” their Faith.  Sometimes Believers lose their zeal to study the Word and revert to being “spoon-fed” by their pastor on Sunday mornings.  When one neglects his Faith journey, one’s spiritual condition will decrease to lukewarmness.  When a Christian fills his spirit with non-spiritual things, his walk will be hindered.  Paul told Timothy to “exercise yourself toward godliness.” (I Timothy 4:7)  The writer of Hebrews tells us to exercise our senses so we can discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:14)  The word exercise means “to train, to practice naked, to practice self-denial for spiritual truths.”  In other words, train with complete resolve without anything influencing our effort.

Honesty is an important aspect of the Believer’s actions.  If we are having a hard time in our Christian endeavor, we can usually trace it back to failing to exercise our spiritual resolve.  When we spend more time watching television than we do in opening God’s Word, we will experience “bumps” in the road.  When we are more concerned with hearing about the “bad news” in the world than we are with hearing the “good news,” our spiritual walk will be impeded.

Let every Believer start exercising his “Prayer-ceps and Bible-ceps, lift the Word and pump the Word.”  Let every Christian exercise Holiness and Love.  When we do not stay in shape, our witness will never get farther than our words.  Paul stated that bodily exercise profits little, compared to godliness, but together they carry us in the Kingdom of God.