Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1
This Is It!
Well enough is enough!!! I told myself. It’s time to start exercising again. It had been quite awhile since I had last exercised. I didn’t plan for it to be that long, but you know how it goes sometimes. All my life I had worked out on a pretty regular basis, going back to when I was about 14 years old, when I first started to lift weights for football. Lifting, running, and stretching. This is what I did regularly for years. It was part of my regular routine. There were a couple of times during those many years when I may have taken a month or two off, not by desire, but due to scheduling conflicts, but it never went much longer than that, and that was only a few times during a period spanning back to my teenage years.
The Gym Life
I had always enjoyed going to the gym, and working out. It was a way to stay fit, and also a great stress relief. Well, now after such a long lay-off, I had recently stepped on a scale, and it shot right back at me. Tilt. Well it didn’t say tilt, but it said more than I wanted it to say. I thought, that can’t be right. I stepped on it again. That same shocking number came up again. I knew I was overweight, way more than I wanted to be, but wow!
Sedentary Lifestyle
So many times we don’t think about our health as much as we should. As a society, we are getting more, and more sedentary, especially with technology that reduces our physical activity. Think video games, and working from home. Also, think about our diet. Can we say, fast foods. It’s no wonder that the obesity rate in the United States is over 40%.
Those Church Dinners
People of faith, we’re right in there with that 40%. We neglect our health just as much as everyone else. How many times at church dinners have you seen fried foods, or the Men’s Breakfast menu being bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, grits, biscuits, and so forth. I know, everything in moderation, but shouldn’t we, as Christians, lead the way and set the example in showing good stewardship over our bodies? Don’t get me wrong. I love those types of foods just as much as anyone else, but the scale tells me that maybe I should try eating a little healthier.
Being A Good Steward
You see, everything we have belongs to God, and he just asks us to be good stewards over it, including the body that he gave us. Paul, in Romans 12:1, tells us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. That means we need to take care of these bodies that God has given us as an act of worship. So what does that mean? How do we take care of our bodies?
Fitness of The Temple
In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, the Apostle Paul talks to the Christians in Corinth about fleeing from sexual sin, but he tells them, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.” Paul, in this verse, was talking about fleeing from sexual sin, but I also think it is a good passage about being good stewards of the bodies that God gave us.
How Do We Take Care Of Our Bodies?
How do we take care of our bodies? That is a simple question. We don’t have to have the perfect body, or spend three hours at the gym every day. No, we just need to try to eat a healthy, or at least healthier diet, and try to get in some exercise every day. It doesn’t have to be a lot. A little goes a long way. Try going for a walk, or even walking in place. If you garden, that can be a good way to exercise as well. Our bodies were meant to move. There is a reason why we get stronger when we are active.
Starting Slowly
My normal exercise routine had always been to start out running for 20 to 30 minutes, and then do some resistance training, and then if I was really motivated, I would get on the stationary bike for about 20 to 30 minutes, and then I would finish off with some stretching exercises, to help increase my flexibility. Well I hadn’t exercised in almost two years, so I was going to have to start slowly. Very Slowly
Walking Is Good Exercise
I decided to start by just walking. Walking is a great exercise. I never gave it much consideration previously. I never thought walking would be of much use to me, as far as exercise was concerned, because I was a runner. About 10, to 12 years, or about 40 pounds ago, though, I was doing a little photography journalism project where I was walking around different parts of the city taking pictures of people just going through their everyday activities. I did a lot of walking on this project. One day at the gym I stepped on the scale, and found I had lost about 9 pounds. I was puzzled. How did I lose weight? I wasn’t doing anything differently. Then I realized that I was doing something differently. I had been doing a lot of walking for my photo project. It was then that I realized just how good just walking was as an exercise.
Inactivity Hurts More When We’re Older
One thing I have to remember is that I’m older now. I’m not 22, or 32, or even 42. I am older so things are not going to come as easily, especially when I take such a long time off from any real exercise.
Keeper Of The Temple
Well, now as keeper of the temple, it is time for me to take back control of my health, and get my weight back under control again. I want to honor God by being a good steward over this old body. I could just kick myself though, for letting such a long time pass before starting to exercise again, but it is, what it is. I am back exercising again, and even though the road is going to be long, I am going to stick with it. My goal is to get down by about 40 pounds, but a lot of that will depend on how I look, and how I feel. As Christians, let’s be more mindful of being good stewards over the bodies God has given us. It is harder to do God’s work, if we not healthy.
The picture of this post is directly related to getting out and getting some exercise. To view the picture, just click on the “Pick Of The Post” link. Please feel free to leave any questions or comments.