Recently, there has been a virtual explosion promoting
physical fitness. Women's magazines are filled with tips on staying
fit. We are bombarded with television and radio commercials offering
health club memberships, along with books and videos addressing
fitness routines.
Due to our busy schedules, staying in shape is
a real struggle for many of us, even though we realize the benefits
of a healthy lifestyle. A regular exercise program can improve
the function of the circulatory system and the lungs, delay degenerative
changes, promote flexibility and overall muscle strength, and
lower body weight. Staying physically fit takes time, effort,
hard work, and persistence. We need to be determined not to let
anything interfere with our daily physical exercise.
Staying spiritually fit requires the same amount
of time, effort, hard work, and persistence. The benefits of being
spiritually fit bring with them a great promise as Paul records
in 1 Timothy 4:8, "For bodily exercise profiteth little;
but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of
the life that now is, and of that which is to come." We know
we can have a richer life here on earth by daily communicating
with God in prayer, meditating on His loving care, and filling
our lives with His words through Bible study. We will battle temptations,
failures, and discouragement; but, once again, we must be determined
not to let anything interfere with our daily spiritual exercise.
Our bodies are wonderfully made, and it is our
responsibility as God's creation to stay physically and spiritually
fit. "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the
Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not
your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God
in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians
6:19, 20. -Rt 1, Box 109-A, Rivesville, WV 26588.