For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. -1 Timothy 4:8 (NIV)
I think I need a personal trainer. You see, I know that I need to exercise more. I know that going from the car to the mailbox doesn't qualify as a walk. Reaching down to pick up the pen that I just dropped doesn't count as an ab crunch. But my problem has always been that when I commit to going to the gym, it lasts for about a week. Since there's no one at the same pathetic level of weight training as I am, since seldom see immediate results, and since it hurts and isn't easy to do, I'm prone to just give up and go eat at the Chinese buffet.
Paul's words today make me feel a little better. He affirms that physical training is of some value, but that training of the spiritual kind has even more value. The spiritual thing I've got: I get up every morning, read scripture, ponder over it, pray, and then journal about it. Whereas I can't seem to stick to a regiment of physical exercise, somehow or another I've managed to faithfully stick to a regiment of spiritual exercise.
The truth of the matter is that we need both physical and spiritual exercise. The truth of the matter is that, in both, sometimes it's hard to chart progress, especially when you're just beginning the regiments. But if we stick with both the physical and spiritual exercise, we realize that it's easier to see the payoffs- not only in the present moment but in the future as well.
May God grant us the grace to devote time to both physical and spiritual training and the ability to see the value in both.
If you're interested in reading through the Bible in a year, tomorrow's suggested readings are 2 Kings 10, 2 Chronicles 22-23, and 1 Timothy 5.
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