As a young man, I thought little about my physical welfare: I cared little about exercise, and generally abused my body. But in my late thirties, with the birth of my two children, I was awakened to the importance of being physically fit—so, 23 years ago, I joined an athletic club, and have been faithfully exercising my body ever since.
Getting regular exercise is a self-imposed discipline. Do you know that God affirms exercise of the body? But even more, He affirms spiritual exercise.
“Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness. Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next” (1 Timothy 4:7-8, New Living Translation).
The words (above) for “training” and “exercise” are the same word in the Greek: the word is “gymnazo,” from which we get our English word “gymnasium.” Every morning before I go to the “gym” for my daily workout, I spend an hour or more reading, studying, and meditating and praying on Scripture. This ‘devotional’ time is GOD’S GYMNASIUM. And this early morning workout in the Word of God is much more profitable to me than my physical fitness agenda will ever be. I am exercising my spirit!
Daily exercise, whether spiritual or physical, is a choice. And, yes, it is hard to do: that’s why it is called “discipline!” The writer of Hebrews encourages us with these words:
“All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful. Yet to those who have been trained [gymnazo] by it, afterwards, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (12:11).
What about you? Do you work out? Are you getting enough exercise every day?
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