Exercise!!!

If we were able to go to the gym four or five times a week, maybe go running, swimming, or lift weights for thirty minutes and keep it up for a whole year, then what kind of shape would we be in? I keep telling myself that all I have to do is go to the gym five days a week for an entire month, and I will have it made. I would be in a good enough shape that I wouldn’t quite get so as sore, and I would have a routine that is natural for me to do. I enjoy working out, but it is still hard to motivate myself to get up off the couch, to put down the cheesy puffs and go. I know that if I go, I will feel so much better, both physically and mentally. Working out will not only make us physically fit, but it can also become a stress reliever, shorten recovery time from sickness or injury, or even help us to get a better night’s sleep. Knowing all of this, it is a wonder why it is so hard for me and so many others to get motivated to exercise. The physical fitness industry rakes in billions of dollars a year. People can see the benefits and are willing to send their money, if not their time, to get into shape. First Timothy 4:7-8 says, “But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” Unfortunately, people do not seem to think that godly exercise is worth putting as much effort as in bodily exercise. Let’s compare the two and see why Paul, through inspiration, says that we should exercise ourselves towards godliness.

Working Out Makes Me Feel Good

I might be hot and tired while I am in the midst of a workout, but after I have finished, showered, cooled down, I feel great. If I go running in the morning, I feel great all day. The same thing happens when I get up in the morning and pray. I am not talking about a five second prayer. I am talking about conversing with my God and Father. Thanking God for all that we have, for the life that we live, for that every day He sees fit to give us life should be one of the first things that comes to our minds in the morning. “I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” (1 Tim. 2:17). We are also told that we are to “pray without ceasing” (I Thess. 5:17). If we put more effort into our prayer life, if we talk to God like we actually care about Him, then we will find life a little more pleasant, a little easier to bare. A healthy prayer life will make us feel better and more confident that one day, because of our effort, we will have gained that great goal for which we seek.

Working Out Shortens Recovery Time

Those who exercise regularly are sick less often and recover faster than those who do not. The same principle applies to Christians who exercise godliness regularly. They fall into temptation less often, and when they realize that they have sinned, they repent and ask for forgiveness sooner than those who do not. We are tempted when we follow after our uncontrolled desires (Js. 1:14). If we learn to control ourselves as we should, then temptation will not be as fierce a foe. Self-control is something that is always good (Gal. 5:23). Knowing what God would have us to do and then applying it to our lives will help to put a protective barrier around us. Just as exercising will make us physically stronger and help us to ward off disease, godly exercise will help us to grow spiritually stronger and help us to ward off sin.

Working Out Helps Us Sleep Better

I have come to find that being mentally drained and exhausted will not necessarily mean that I will get a good night’s sleep. When I have a lot of things on my mind, such as worries about financial or physical problems, things that I put off doing that I should not have, or whatever it might be, I have a hard time sleeping. The guilt and the consequences of sin will do this to us as well. In Edger Allen Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart, the main character is so pained by his conscience for the murder that he committed, that he could not stop hearing what to him was the constant drumming of the dead man’s heart. The proper amount of godly exercise will help us to flee from sin, but if and when we do fall, we know that we can repent and ask for forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9). A clear conscience from a properly exercised Christian will result in a good night’s sleep.

Conclusion

As much as I would encourage anyone who asked me about physical exercise to do it, I would implore and exhort all the more that they would exercise themselves towards godliness. A well sculpted figure might gain much attention and an expertly trained body might win many medals, but that counts for nothing in the life to come. There is no way that we could ever hope to become a gold medal winner at the Olympics without a tremendous amount of effort. What makes us think that we could ever make it to heaven without just as much?  “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Mat 7:13-14).