The Evangelist, Billy Graham, once said, "Unless the soul is fed and exercised daily, it becomes weak and shriveled. It remains discontented, confused, and restless." I ride a bicycle everyday. I do between 12 and 22 miles depending on my mood (and the weather). As a diabetic, if I don’t exercise it will impact my physical health negatively. If I don’t eat right, it’s even more of a problem. Our spiritual health suffers in the same way. This is why our daily time with the Lord through prayer and reading the scriptures is so important. It's the food and exercise we all need to be healthy and balanced Christians. Be honest, how much have you been feeding and exercising your soul? How healthy are you spiritually?
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." (Colossians 3:16)
One of the things I do at the end of my ride is stop at the church and say morning prayer. It helps me focus my day and it’s a good cool down opportunity for me physically as well. I call it my “spiritual work-out room.” One of the great things about being an Anglican is our prayer book. It provides me the opportunity to daily exercise my soul through prayer and the reading of scripture provided in the Morning and Evening prayer sections.
"For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." (1 Timothy 4:8)
So here we have the Apostle Paul telling Timothy that physical training is valuable. Hmm, maybe Timothy was a jogger. Anyway, as Christians, the Spirit of God lives in us and our bodies are actually the temples of the living God. Obviously, we need to train our bodies with healthy exercise and healthy eating. However, Paul says that spiritual training is of even greater value. Therefore, we need to feed and exercise our souls in such a way that we have joyful and healthy hearts. You can’t be joyful without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." (Psalm 51:10-12)
Do you have a "spiritual work-out room" where you spend time feeding and exercising your soul? Remember, that which you don't exercise regularly usually ends up shriveling and getting weak. Or, as Billy Graham said, "Your spiritual life becomes restless, discontented and confused.”
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16)
Be in Training,,
Bishop Ian
