THE GYM OF LIFE

THE GYM OF LIFE 

1 TIMOTHY 4:7-8 NKJ 

7 But reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. 

If you are listening to this devotional, the title of this one is the gym - g y m - of life.  Not the gem as in gemstone.  

Our life down here is an opportunity to exercise.  Not physically, although that dimension exists.  Exercise ourselves toward godliness.  Godliness will involve living with a heart, accompanied by actions, to please and honor God.  To strive to live Christ-like. It's great that Paul uses the word exercise.  This tells us that godliness is not something that falls on us.  Godliness requires effort and intentionality.   

Paul first instructs Timothy to reject profane and old wives' fables.  Today we would include a great amount of media with its distorted truth and false news.  Is that asking too much?  I don't think so. Godliness is profitable.  Exercising physically is profitable in a limited sense.  Physical exercise can help us live longer and stronger and can help our mental/emotional health.  But we still get older, and one day we'll leave our bodies behind. 

But exercising ourselves toward godliness is profitable in a much broader sense.  Living with and for God will enhance your entire life.  Your spiritual, mental/emotional, and physical well-being are better off.  Living for God and pleasing Him as our top priority will make a big difference in our outlook, attitude and results.  It will benefit our relationships in a big way.  Exercising ourselves toward godliness will make us much more awesomer than we ever could be on our own.   

But wait, there's more!  This brief time on earth is not the end.  Exercising ourselves toward godliness will also profit us in the life that is to come.  Living with God here makes a big difference over there, in eternity.   

APPLICATION: 

No one exercises without knowing it.  There is no unconscious exercise.  We have to purpose in our hearts and then overcome the resistance from our bodies and feelings.  If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.  Godliness, living with and for God is not an unconscious experience.  We purpose in our hearts and then act on what we know from scriptures.  And we must overcome the resistance from the world's culture, our minds, our feelings, and the desires of our bodies.  Easy?  Nope.  Profitable?  Absolutely.  Welcome to the gym of life.  

PRAYER: 

Help me Father.  I want to live in such a way that You are pleased and glorified in me.