Spiritual Workout
By Shauna Leis
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
Philippians 2:12-13
Exercise is good for the heart, body, mind, and soul. And I will be one of the first to admit that I am a bit of an exercise fanatic. I enjoy both the cardiovascular workouts and the weight lifting as well for strength building of my muscles. Typically I do a lot of fast walking and jogging for my cardiovascular routine. The cardiovascular exercise works out my heart to keep the blood moving through my body like it is supposed to in order that my organs receive all of the nutrients they need for proper functioning. Exercise also makes my heart stronger for more endurance type of endeavors that I sometimes find myself in – like towing my kids back across the lake when they have swum out further than they were supposed to!
For strength building, I do mostly weight lifting on machines and also with free weights sometimes. I do several sets of repetitions and over time slowly start to increase the weight I am lifting to continue to stress the muscles to do more. If I stay at the same weight or repetitions, then my muscles will reach a plateau where they are not being challenged further and will stop growing and getting stronger. When I stress those muscles to do more, they continue to grow and strengthen.
As a friend and I were talking on our instant messenger service, she said something that really struck me. She said, “You know, I really need to start exercising – both physically and spiritually.” She has a two year old son so her body has gotten out of shape after the stresses of child bearing. So, she really wants to get her body back into shape. However, she also informed me that she was planning to start going back to church. Realization finally struck her that it was not just a good physical exercise routine that she needed, she really required a spiritual workout to get her mind back in shape, too.
Dear friend, I would dare say all of us could take some lessons here. Many times, we get so focused on doing the physical exercise and getting our bodies into shape that we forget that our minds need a regular spiritual routine as well to stay in shape. And I truly believe that it includes both parts, much like a physical exercise routine – an endurance building piece and a strength building component, too. We cannot focus on just one piece, or we will be imbalanced in our spiritual lives.
Jesus gave us a clear picture of what builds the endurance piece of our spiritual lives. He prayed at every opportunity. He even taught His disciples how to pray several times throughout the Gospels. For us, I believe that our spiritual endurance comes from the guidance in the letter of Paul to the Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Notice that Paul does not say, “Pray every once in a while,” or “Pray when you fee like it.” He says “Pray continually!” That means we never stop praying. That, my friends, is how we build endurance in our spiritual lives. We focus on God continually and ask Him to be with us at all times. This takes a lot of discipline, much like doing that cardiovascular routine so often!
The other component is building strength in our spiritual lives. There is no other way to do this than by knowing the Scriptures. It is our only offensive weapon against the evil one according to Ephesians. God and His Word are what strengthen us to stand up against the attacks that come against us every day. Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” God had so many from history writing down His Words so that you and I might have a record to follow and use as a guide in our lives. Romans 15:4 indicates, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
It is not just enough to read the Scriptures; we have to commit them to memory so we can recall them at anytime that we need them. Sixteen different times in Deuteronomy the writer says “remember.” He did not want the people to forget all that God had done for them in bringing them out of Egypt and giving them the land of Israel, a land flowing with milk and honey. The writer was so sold on the idea of remembering what God had done for them that he told the people to “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” to help them remember God’s goodness. That is how we build spiritual strength in our lives. We listen to God and we remember His goodness to us through His Word.
Are you ready for a little spiritual exercise in your life today? Will you join me now in committing to God that we will be regular in our routines to both build spiritual endurance and spiritual strength through Him?
Pray with me: Oh Adonai, we commit today that we are ready to turn our spiritual exercise over to You. We will pray to You and learn from You how to have endurance in our lives for when we are up against a taxing situation. And we want to know You and Your Word more deeply and intimately than ever before so that when the attacks of the evil one come, we can stand against them through Your strength. We know that we are nothing without You in our lives. God, we love You so very much and pray all of this in the name above all names, Jesus Christ! Amen.