Move It or Lose It

I'll just be real with you: we're getting older. It seems that, in general, there is less demand on our bodies as we age. When I was a bit younger and had younger kids, I remember my mother-in-law asking me if I ever sat down. I think, then, it was probably only to change a diaper. Several years ago, I was chasing toddlers all over...even in the middle of the night I would be up with a crying baby, or a kid with a wet bed, or you name it. Now, there are still just as many demands on my time, yet it's different. Rather than chasing kids, I now sit in the van and drive teenagers all over; and when I'm not doing that, I'm sitting and working at my computer...writing a workbook, editing something, or working on some other digital project.

Our ancestors used to be on their feet all day long plowing fields, building fences and other structures, baling and stacking hay and straw...much physical labor. Technology, however, has driven many of us to sit all day long.

Have you felt the impact of that yet? I have. Much of this past year I took a bit of a sabbatical from exercise and found that "I'm losing it." What I'm gaining: aches and pains. Shortness of breath. I've gotten weaker, less flexible. Low energy level...tired a lot. I didn't realize how much impact just walking briskly 20 minutes a day, 3 or 4 days a week had on me. Two weeks ago, I left my sabbatical and began to "move it" again...3 days last week, and so far, 2 this week.

Have you felt the "move it or lose it" impact anywhere else in your life? The Apostle Paul says in the Bible, "for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." (1 Tim. 4.8) Seeing and feeling the impact of my physical laxity, I'm not only motivated to re-build what I've lost physically, but I'm also motivated to maintain and stretch what I have spiritually. I saw and felt the frustrating impact of the physical loss. If that's only of "little value", I certainly don't want to lose the spiritual, which is of much greater value.

What am I doing today to exercise spiritually?