Flashback Friday (on Saturday) - Growing Up Isn't Easy - Martin Wiles

Growing Up Isn’t Easy

The path is littered with spurts, setbacks, and tests, but eventually success is achieved. 

Whoever said growing up was easy? I watched the challenges with my own children and am now standing by as my grandson begins to make his way toward adulthood. Along the way, he has learned to feed himself if we provide the food. (Or if we don’t quick enough, he becomes ingenious and acquires it from the cat or dog’s bowl.) He lets us know when his diaper needs changing. And he’s now discovered that crawling isn’t the only way to get around. He can use his legs to walk. In his short journey thus far, he’s encountered bumps, bruises, falls, and scratches. All part of his growing pains. Read more...

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Throwback Tuesday - Spiritual Workouts - Martin Wiles

Spiritual Workouts

What begins from good intentions is often lost in the shuffle of life.

The pastor said it, and I have no reason to doubt its validity. He’s been there and done that. Go to the local YMCA at the beginning of each New Year, and the exercise equipment will be brimming with eager participants seeking to work out New Year resolutions. Visit three months later, and you can have your pick of the machines. 

I’m one of the guilty ones. I’ve never visited the YMCA or any other fitness organization, but I’ve had a few of those exercise machines lounging around in my house. And true to form, I only used them for a few months before I tired of them. They became yard sale items or stations to lay clothes. Read more...

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The Shape of Our Shape - Martin Wiles

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself. 1 Corinthians 6:19 NLT

The shape of my shape was changing—and there was nothing I could do.

I enjoy calculating the age my grandparents and parents were when I was at particular stages of my life. When I was young, everyone—including my parents and grandparents—seemed old. I once calculated what age they were when I was in middle school. My parents were in their thirties—the age my daughter now is. Then I calculated how old my grandparents were when I was a teenager. They seemed ancient. My grandfather would have been fifty-seven—the age I am now.

The results of my calculations were sobering. Doing so reminded me age is relative. Although I considered thirty old when I was a middle schooler, I don’t consider my daughter old. And though I thought my grandfather was old and wrinkled when I was a teen, I don’t consider myself that way, even though I’m the same age. Age is relative. “Old” gets older the older I get. Now I chuckle inside when I hear a senior in their eighties talk about old folks.

I can’t stop the aging process. Surgeries, creams, and muscle toning exercises may hide the results of age from others, but my body still knows its birthday.

The Bible has little to say about physical exercise. Probably because when it was written almost everyone performed manual exercise. So there was no reason to tell people about the importance of physical exercise. They received it daily. But also because there is an exercise more important than physical. My skin may be smooth and body toned when I’m in my eighties, but I’m likely to still die then—or before.

Physical exercise may help us live longer, but spiritual exercise helps us avoid spiritual death and live eternally with Christ. When I accepted Christ, my body became a temple of His Spirit. God goes with me everywhere I go and is there for me to consult in every situation. Keeping this temple clean through godly living and thinking is the best exercise I can do. Doing so keeps me mentally, spiritually, and emotionally fit.

Outward beauty may be praised and sought after by most, but God likes the inner beauty better. Pay attention to your physical shape, but pay more attention to your spiritual condition.

Tweetable: How's your shape?

Prayer: Father, prompt us to keep ourselves in good spiritual shape so we can properly glorify You before others. 

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The Best Exercise - Martin Wiles

Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:8 NLT

If having one would help me keep track of my health, then why not buy it?

What initially attracted me wasn’t its sleek style or the many things it could do. It combined as a watch with an alarm, and I’ve been a sucker for a watch since I was nine years old. But since my wife and I have been on a health kick, I was also attracted by its benefits.

Fitbit is an American company known for making products which are wireless and track such things as steps, heart rate, rigorous activity, sleep quality, calories, and other personal metrics. An added feature is that it syncs with my iPhone and alerts me when I have a text message, calendar notification, and incoming call.

Until I was 40 years of age, I could eat anything I wanted without consequence. Not so now. And as I get older, I realize I must take care of myself (and my wife) if I want to increase my chances of staying here a little longer. Because my wife has more health concerns than I do, I had no problem justifying spending the money for a Fitbit if it would help us.

Paul commends physical exercise and good health. After all, God made our bodies and expects us to treat them with care. For believers, our bodies house His Spirit and are a temple. They are also living sacrifices.

As good as physical exercise and proper eating are, there is a better exercise: spiritual. Physical exercise is good for this life only; spiritual exercise is good for both this life and the next. In fact, without proper spiritual exercise, we won't enjoy what the life to come offers.

Spiritual exercise helps me enjoy the abundant life Jesus says I can have now. A life lived daily with confidence and assurance. Confidence that God loves me and has accepted me into His family. Assurance that nothing or no one can take me from His hand. A life lived without condemnation because Jesus has taken my sin.

Spiritual exercise isn’t easy, but it’s always beneficial. I’ll never lose when I devour God’s Word, bathe in prayer, commune with other believers, love everyone unconditionally, serve others with kindness, forgive my enemies (and friends), and care for God’s world.

Exercise physically, but don’t miss the benefits of spiritual exercise.

Prayer: Father, give us the stamina to exercise spiritually every day. 

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