Two Kinds of Exercise

“… physical training is of some value … “  (1 Tim 4:7)

 

Some years ago my family and I joined the local YMCA and were regular attendees.  (Personally, I would have put attenders here, but my spell check didn’t like that word). All was going well until we went on vacation. When we got back we never went back.....and I don't miss it.

I will admit that physical training is of some value in this life, but I don’t seem to be highly motivated about it. On the other hand, training in godliness is of more value, for it is good not only in this life but also in the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 says:

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 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.

Just as physical training takes effort, so too does training in godliness. In training for either, you need some inspiration to get started, and then once you start training, you become more motivated to do it, and as you see the good effect it is having, you are even more motivated to continue it.

However, if you take a break from either, or go on vacation and don’t include it in you daily activities, there will be some resistance in you to beginning again when you get back home. When this happens, we need to suck it up and begin training again.

We do seem to have it kind of backwards in our society though. We are becoming very conscious of health, and exercise, which is good, and are willing to take the necessary steps in this area of our lives. We spend time, money, and energy and even sacrifice things for the sake of physical training, which has limited value.

But for that which is of greater value, not only for now but also for eternity, we don’t seem to be as willing to put ourselves out. We have devalued training in godliness and accepted a world value of body importance. Of course we don’t call it that, we call it health and that seems to make it ok.

When we value physical training over training in godliness, we are not putting first things first. We are attaching greater value to that which has some value than to that which is of greater value.

I am not saying let's stop the one and do the other...I'm saying let's do both, and in our doing, let us remember to attach greater importance to the one which is of greater value.