Workouts

 September 3, 2022

Occasionally, the schedule conspires against me, keeping me from working out as I need. I’ve found that if I don’t exercise first thing in the morning, the day gets rolling and before I know it, it’s time for bed. This last week has been one of those crazy weeks; I didn’t do a single pushup, squat, or crunch…until this morning. 

I suppose it would be helpful to know that I’ve never been much of an athlete and don’t like working out. I’ve talked with people who speak of “runner’s high,” or how they look forward to going to the gym. I don’t understand people like that. I’m more like a former District Superintendent of mine who years ago wrote a little ditty:

“I watch the joggers as they go by

Mile after weary mile;

Tell me, if jogging is so much fun,

Why don’t they ever smile?”

What I do understand however, is my need for exercise. When I turned fifty, the Lord spoke to me saying, “Your body is my temple, and I don’t like the shape it’s in.” Really. I didn’t hear an audible voice, but whenever I get a notion of something that is totally out of character for me, I can be pretty sure it’s the Lord. So I bought some VHS (that’s how long ago it was) exercise tapes and began a workout routine that I’ve kept more or less since then. 

This week however, it just didn’t happen. So this morning I bit the bullet, turned on YouTube and grunted, groaned, and sweat alongside my workout buddy Funk Roberts for half an hour. In that week that I’ve been away, my pushup ability plummeted. What had been relatively routine was hard. And tonight, sore muscles from my legs to my neck are complaining loudly about their mistreatment. 

I’ll ignore their complaints and do it again because I know I have to keep moving if I don’t want to end up in a chair or bed before my time. Staying in shape is better than getting in shape, but both are necessary if I want to enjoy life. But it gets me thinking…

If we get out of shape spiritually, neglecting the Bible, skimping on prayer, skipping worship, we may not notice it when life runs along normally. But when the crisis hits, we hit the spiritual turbocharge, but nothing happens because we’ve not trained our spiritual muscles to handle anything more than an unchallenged life. 

Getting into shape spiritually isn’t always pleasant at the start. Our spiritual muscles complain; we don’t see our spirits growing like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s biceps, so we give up. Prayer can be hard. Putting down the phone and picking up the Bible takes more willpower than we realize. Watching worship from a streaming service in our PJ’s is more convenient than getting dressed and driving to a physical location. Investing in other people takes time and energy.

We had visits from our son in law and several grandchildren this evening. Projects got laid aside as we talked and laughed together. Our hearts are full even as our bodies are tired and sore. We were able to listen, to give attention because over the years we’ve not neglected the spiritual disciplines that fill the soul and feed the spirit. We are blessed beyond measure and thankful tonight for physical and spiritual workouts that enable us to give and to bless others in Jesus’ name.