The other day I was chatting with some friends on Twitter and they were talking about how they both really needed to start exercising. Not wanting to be left out of the conversation, I chimed in by saying, “Oh, I exercise every day”.
“Really? I didn’t know that about you,” one of them replied.
“Absolutely,” I said. “I run to the fridge several times a day for a snack and I do arm curls with a cup of coffee most of the day. My right arm is pumped up.”
They laughed and gave me a hard time. I told them that my life verse was I Timothy 4:8 that says; “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
As you can tell I am not the world’s biggest fitness buff. I do believe that physical exercise is important and I tend to joke about being out of shape and probably should hit the gym now and then. We only have one body and we really should take care of it and my body is no exception.
While I joke about that verse being my life verse, I am not far off from the truth. Actually when I read verses 7 and 8 together they really do describe what I am looking for in my life.
“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:7-8 (ESV)
We spoke the last two times about putting God’s Word into our hearts via scripture memory and meditating on it as part of a Heart Healthy Diet. Now it’s time to hit the gym and start putting that good spiritual nutrition to use to build up our spiritual body in godliness.
The word Paul uses in verse 7 that are often translated “train” or “discipline” is actually the Greek word we get gymnasium from. It has the idea of wrestling unencumbered. In the early Greek games athletes would compete naked or almost naked so as to not be restricted or to give their opponent anything to grasp onto. Our spiritual discipline is also to be one that is unencumbered and unhindered. But how do we do this?
The writer of Hebrews gives us a good starting point in Hebrews 12:1 where he says; “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” (ESV, emphasis mine). The sins and weights in our lives are like encumbering garments that keep us from running the race of godliness and holiness that Christ has called us to run.
Imagine showing up to compete for a race in the Olympics. You show up for the big race. Millions are watching around the world and your home country is rooting for you. You step on the field wearing logger’s coveralls, a back pack and heavy mountaineering boots. The crowd gasps and some laugh as you step in the starting blocks and wait for the starter’s pistol. It goes off and you fall flat on your face from the weight of your outfit while the rest of the runners take off like a bolt.
That illustration may seem silly, but many of us in the Christian race try to run the same way. We want to be in the race. We want the prize that awaits us at the finish line and we want to compete, but we show up for the race with the garments of our old nature and the weight of our favorite sins that we just refuse to relinquish on our backs. We start to run and then stop to take a breather and visit the concession stand and fill up on soft drinks and cotton candy. We will never win the race this way. In fact, we may not even actually be in the race at all.
It is important that each of us examine our lives carefully and identify the sins and weights that hold us back and eliminate them with prayer, discipline, with a commitment to a proper diet of God’s Word and with accountability to others. Just to get the pump primed for you and let you know that I am not immune from this exercise, I will go first and tell you some of the sins and weights that have “beset” me and slowed me down and kept me from being the spiritual runner I need to be.
Perhaps my greatest weight has been entertainment. I watched way too much T.V. and read too many novels. I would get hooked, as many do, on certain series and just sit and indulge myself in them for hours. Then one day I was convicted that the things I was watching and reading were filled with profanity, the use of God’s name in vain and promoted things the Bible specifically forbid. I grabbed the remote and turned off the tube and packed up my worldly novels and got rid of them. It was hard. I loved those things, but they were keeping me drawn to the world and pulling me away from God. They were also filling my mind with scenes and words that were in conflict what I knew to be right and holy. It was a painful process at first, but now I feel strong and can run harder in the race.
Take some time this week and write out the sins and weights that are not allowing you to be the committed and disciplined child of God He wants you to be and that you desire to be. Pray about them. Seek guidance from a strong spiritual mentor. Search the Word to see what it says about them and pack them up and get them out of your life. Trust me you will be so glad you did. There is nothing like the freedom of running the race without the heavy burden of sin and guilt on our backs.
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