“Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8 NLT)

If having one would help me to keep track of my health, then why not buy it?

What initially attracted me wasn’t its sleek style or the many things that it could do. Its functions included a watch with an alarm, and I’ve been a sucker for a watch since I was nine years old. But since my wife and I have been on a health kick, I was also attracted by its benefits.

Fitbit is an American company known for making products which are wireless and track such things as steps, heart rate, rigorous activity, sleep quality, calories, and other personal metrics. An added feature is that it syncs with my iPhone and alerts me when I have a text message, calendar notification, or incoming call.

Until I was 40 years of age, I could eat anything that I wanted without consequence. Not so now. As I get older, I realize that I must take care of myself (and my wife) if I want to increase my chances of staying here a little longer. Because my wife has more health concerns than I do, I had no problem justifying spending the money for a Fitbit if it would help us.

Paul commends physical exercise and good health. After all, God made our bodies and expects us to treat them with care. For believers, our bodies house His Spirit and are a temple. They are also living sacrifices.

As good as physical exercise and proper eating are, there is better exercise: spiritual. Physical exercise is good for this life only; spiritual exercise is good for both this life and the next. In fact, without proper spiritual exercise, we won’t enjoy what the life to come offers.

Spiritual exercise helps me to enjoy the abundant life, which Jesus says that I can have now:

• life lived daily with confidence and assurance;
• confidence that God loves me and has accepted me into His family;
• assurance that nothing or no one can take me from His hand;
• life lived without condemnation because Jesus has taken my sin.

Spiritual exercise isn’t easy, but it’s always beneficial. I’ll never lose when I devour God’s Word, bathe in prayer, commune with other believers, love everyone unconditionally, serve others with kindness, forgive my enemies (and friends), and care for God’s world.

Let us all exercise physically, but let us not miss the benefits of spiritual exercise.

Prayer: Father, give us the stamina to exercise spiritually every day. Amen.


Copyright © 2021, by Martin Wiles <mandmwiles@gmail.com>, first published on the PresbyCan Daily Devotional presbycan.ca .
Greenwood, South Carolina, USA