Spiritual Exercise

Corinthians 2  4:16 “Do not lose heart.  Even though our outward person is perishing, the inward person is being renewed day by day.”

I don’t believe there is a diet I haven’t tried or an exercise that has not made me sore.  It was a month before my 30^th birthday and I felt as if life was over.  During the year I had, what I thought, were real physical problems.  Torn tendons and ligaments in my right ankle kept me from playing softball.  I had played the game fervently since I was 15 and enjoyed the relaxation it brought three nights a week. 

Before the injury, warming up before a game and running onto the field to catch fly balls was easy.  I had exercised hard by working on the farm and then in college had built up my strength through Judo.  Staying in shape was no effort. Now all of a sudden, I couldn’t play the game I loved.  So, I chose surgery to repair the damage knowing it meant that the season was lost.  Thoughts like, “Half my life is over”, “I’m really old!”, and “Just think about what you have not done with your life”, all flooded my mind.  Funny how today at twice the age, I quit figuring what percentage is over or how many years are ahead.  Just thrilled that the Lord has given me another day of living.

Have you ever found yourself looking into a mirror and saying, “I’m getting old or my life is over because of a situation, injury, or any reason you can experience?   Good health and exercise are important parts of our lives and should never be glossed over.  Yet the reality of life is the first part of today’s scripture, “the outward body is perishing. . .”  But that does not mean we should ever give up!  The rest of the scripture should become our target, “. . .the inward person is being renewed day by day.”

Spending time with the Lord each day is vital to the renewal of our inward person.  Daily devotions are helpful to motivate you to seek the Lord’s face.  If you don’t take the time to get close to the Lord, you are missing out on the best health of your life. Your spiritual health. Read, pray, and talk to the Lord EVERY day.  Ask Him for wisdom and he will give it to you.  Exercise the spiritual man or woman within you.  You will be amazed how easily you can handle anything the world throws at you!

We all need to improve our health by exercising our spiritual minds. For me, physical exercise does not help the fact that the muscular chest I once had has now moved to my waist line.  The problem for me is that I don’t care much for the truth of the first part of the scripture.   

But I really enjoy the second half of the verse.