After finishing my workout at "Boot Camp" yesterday I again asked myself why? Why do you do this to yourself? It's a question that I've posed on numerous occasions only this time the answer that came to me was different. It was not about toning up or getting in shape instead I was reminded of what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians; "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." Please forgive me but to paraphrase Paul again "For the message of excercise is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
In seminary we were taught that if something was repeated in Scripture it was really important and should be duly noted. The Apostle writes in 3:16 of the same book "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's spirit lives in you." Again in 6:20 he tells us "you were bought at a price, therefore honor God with your body."
I don't think that Paul envisioned a world filled with men sporting "six pac" abs or all women possessing "bikini bods, but I do believe that he wanted us to be the best that we could be for God. It is so easy to fall victim to desires of the fast food culture and enslcave our bodies in unhealthy ways. Christs death freed us from sin but also obligates us to service in the "great commission" (Matt. 28: 18-20).
If you've tried to exercise, to lose weight or get in shape and were not successful I would encourage you to get up off the couch again. With props to Nike "just do it" for God and with His help through prayer, alot of exercise (again), and a proper diet the results might be different this time.. In the end you'll like the way you look and feel and that comes with a lifetime guarantee.
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