Exercise

Exercise teaches us to be disciplined and it brings with it rewarding results when managed correctly. Most of us have been trained in some form of exercise through the throes of our lifetimes. A body builder ensures that his routine is precise and accurate to achieve their desired results. They are motivated by the change to their physiques. But one thing is certain if they do not adhere to strict diets and their daily programmes they will not reap their full potential. This is a principal we can apply to every area of our lives, “no pain no gain” and it is no different to the Christian walking in the Spirit, they must be trained within the realms of spiritual truths. The Word of God is where we find the correct instructions for our lives and it is imperative that we set our minds upon those truths if we are to be rewarded.

The beauty of it all is we have the Commander of the universe instructing us. However, when we ignore the instructions we find in the Word of God we stagnate in our growth as Christians and bear very little fruit to our lives.  In fact we hinge on the fringes of unbelief, which is a very dangerous place for the child of God to live.

“Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (1Timothy 4:7- 8) – It is crucial to note that this verse emphasis that we are to train ourselves for godliness; we must resolve to be serious about the call that God has placed on our lives. I know that there are areas of my life that I am not willing to freely yield, but I am wrong and my stubbornness is hampering my progress. Sure, we are but flesh and this process will never come from the flesh it must be driven by the Spirit of God that now dwells in us. But I am convinced of this one fact if I have understood the theory, it is God who has been merciful and quickened my understanding and I now must be willing to find grace to yield in the areas that I struggle with. Will I? Time will tell!

We most certainly have an enemy that looks to trip us up with our progress towards godliness and the flesh will never be able to achieve God’s righteousness per say. The Apostle James teaches us this truth; “Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.” (James 1:13-16) – Lets suppose I am training as an athlete for the Olympics and I have a weakness for chocolate and it has been proven through research that chocolate hinders my progress but I have a weakness for it, it is obvious I need refrain from eating chocolate. In like manner to proceed in righteousness I need to put off my old habits, whatever it is that hinders my development. The beauty of it all is I am not left to my own devices to achieve the anticipated result. But we have been afforded storerooms of grace to draw from in time of need and we need to be exercised in that application. How will we ever learn this valuable lesson unless there are times in our lives that we are confronted with temptation? It is part of the training process and this will be our lot in life as long as we live here on earth. Once God calls us home and we breathe our last we will then be graded on how disciplined we actually were. And just in case you doubt that to be true the Apostle Paul enlightens us to a day of judgement for the Christian; “each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” (1 Corinthians 3:13-15)

I realise that this is making reference to what we teach others in respect to God’s Word, however there is most certain a principle we can draw from in regards to our application to others and not applying them to ourselves with hypocrisy playing its part in trying to trip up the Christian. It is only through training and applying ourselves to Spiritual truths that we will learn to conquer that beast.

Signing off

Tyrone