Busyness.
Fatigue.
Negligence.
Each of these serves as reasons most pastors do not make physical fitness part of their normal day. In our vocation, there seems to be a major disconnect among us regarding the importance of our physical condition.
Have you ever considered that you are unable to go where your body and health cannot take you?
It is not my intention to create guilt, but motivation. I’m not trying to heap added pressure upon your life along with what you already deal with daily.
I simply want to encourage you to take action to care for your physical health. Perhaps you have never considered this, but did you know that there should be a connection between your walk with Christ and a regular practice for physical fitness and conditioning? I have believed this for years and have forwarded it continually in my newest book, Living Fit.
As your spiritual life goes, so goes the rest of your life.
A Personal Story
In my younger years, I was neglectful of my physical condition. I was going to school, not sleeping much, working long hours, and parenting young children. Physical fitness was just not a priority. Sadly, eating was a major priority. Eating is the accepted vice of most ministers. Therefore, when these combined, at one point in my earliest ministry, I blew up to 207 pounds.
One day, it all changed. I began a major commitment to my physical condition. I started walking daily.
Years later, I began running and working out with weights. I was a sprinter in high school, not a distance runner, so running never appealed to me. However, for probably over thirty years now, I have become a consistent runner. Oh, not a true runner, more of a jogger. I don’t go fast, but I do go far and long. Anyone who has ever gone running with me knows I will probably not outpace them, but I may outlast them.
Presently, I run an hour or so a day, three to four days a week. Additionally, I work out on a Pelaton bike with trainers online and on demand, two to three days a week. This commitment is very important in my life. Even on Sunday mornings, I jog on the treadmill for an hour. While on the treadmill, I go over my message for the day, working through mastering it before delivering it publicly.
I am convinced that I could not do what I do – with my workload and life’s pressure – without this strong commitment to running, biking, and conditioning. Caring for my body is very important, not only for the quality of my health, but the management of my responsibilities.
If you have read previously concerning my morning schedule, you will see that I exercise in the morning. Delayed exercise and fitness usually results in no exercise and fitness. That is why I do it in the mornings.
As I have stated in Living Fit, I cannot determine how long I live, but I can determine how well I live. Every day is a gift from God. I need to treat it as such and take the needed time for physical fitness so I can be in the best position to take my best shot for God daily.
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Source: Christian Post
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