Blessed is the Kingdom

Seeking The Kingdom In All Things

I Want to Ride my Bicycle

 

Exercise Regularly

Maxim #22

I recently bought a bicycle. The idea behind the purchase was to get back into the habit of regular exercise. We as Christians can often forget that we are not angels, pure spirits who can sustain themselves purely on God, but that we have both spirit and body. Our bodies require nourishment and exercise in order to fully give glory to God.

As a child, I found great joy in being outside, riding my bike, playing baseball, or tag, or just about anything that kept me active. As an adult, I find it much more difficult to make time for exercise. I know that when I make time for it, be it taking a walk, going on a hike or getting on my bicycle, I feel much better, have more energy and know that I am giving the respect to my body that it is due. That being said, it is not an easy task.

Just like every other part of the Christian life, exercise is difficult. It requires discipline. It means commitment. But taking care of our bodies is central to the Christian life. We humans are a combination of spirit and flesh who require attention to both.

What are you doing to make sure your body is being strengthened along with you spirit? How is it going?

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This entry was posted by on Saturday, October 8th, 2011 at 6:32 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About The Author

Fr. Christian is the pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Lenoir City, TN.

Comments

  • JBShelton

    While baseball and tag (I would love to play tag again!) require a group and a place, what I like about such activities as running, walking and biking is that you can enjoy them daily even when no one is able to join you.

  • Leah Bennett

    I’m currently training for the Kiawah Island marathon in December. Thanks for the inspiration. I read this while preparing for my long run for the week. I’m scheduled to do 15 miles today and was already thinking of excuses to shorten that before I even got out of the house, but after reading this I’m going to make a sincere effort to finish the whole run!

  • http://www.blessedisthekingdom.com Fr. Christian Mathis

    Awesome!

  • lisa

    Hey Fr. C,  So nice to see you in person last night!   I thought I could comment on this post and thus no longer be on the lurker list.  ;-)

    It hasn’t always been easy for me to stick to regular exercise but after asking God to help me with this after my last physical, He’s helped me discover something so wonderful that instead of “too busy today” being a convenient excuse to skip it, I find myself making it a priority to protect that time.

    I wake up in the morning while the house is still quiet and spend real quality time with God…prayer, spiritual reading, writing, contemplation…you get the picture.   I’m in my favorite praying place, totally comfortable in my PJ’s, with coffee and a blanket.  I have a real sense of being in my “inner room”…I love it.

    Soon after, usually after everyone is off to work and school, I go outside and wog (walk/jog) a 3 mile loop around my neighborhood followed by a few exercises and stretching when I return.   I follow the same path and listen to the same music (U2) every time.

    Everyday I’m struck by the same amazing thing:    the feeling I have,  when I first leave my “inner room” and step out into the bigger world…the contrast is so striking to me that the “same” is never boring.   Big gulps of crisp morning air, moving my whole body, taking in the beauty of nature all around, people in cars, other exercisers, animals, etc.  I feel very much alive and part of everything, grateful for my health, the ability to move and run. 

    Being an introvert who has been on a journey to not only be in unity with God (easier for me) but also with my neighbor (harder for me),  this experience has been a gift that I’ve been able to draw from time and time again to remind myself how amazing it is to go out of myself enough to love God in my neighbor. Oneness.  I feel I’m more spiritually balanced.   All from a little exercise!

  • http://www.blessedisthekingdom.com Fr. Christian Mathis

    It was good to see you too!

  • Lschaefe

    I survived all 15 miles, and didn’t even want to make any excuses to quit for the first 12.5 (my knees didn’t like me very much by the last 2.5!).  It was an absolutely perfect day to be outside exercising and enjoying God’s beautiful creation.

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