A Christian Voice Nanosermon
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Bodily Exercise Profiteth: Script
There is a verse in one of the Apostle Paul’s letters which has been taken to mean that Christians should do no training, or sports, or exercise. I think we’ve misunderstood it, and just perhaps, the King James translation, which I use and respect, hasn’t helped. The verse is in Paul’s first letter to Timothy, chapter four and verse eight:
1Tim 4:8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
Now look, the Apostle Paul knew all about the Greek Games events which persisted into the Roman era. He constantly uses training metaphors and talks about bringing his body into subjection. Remember, this is a man who will comfortably walk from Jerusalem to Damascus, a journey of 140 miles, probably accomplished over 5 days at 28 miles a day.
It’s all about priorities
This man is super-fit. So can he actually be telling Timothy not to be in good physical shape?
No, it’s all about priorities. We talk about godliness and the blessings it brings all the time here on the NanoSermon channel. Your relationship with God is of eternal significance. In this life it governs everything you do and everything you are. It holds the promise, says Paul, of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. It is much more important than your relationship with your personal trainer.
But equally, we do have time here on earth. The Greek word ‘oligos’, translated here as ‘little’, means ‘small’ or ‘puny’. It gives us the word ‘oligarchy’, meaning ‘rule by a tiny number’. So it means for a little while, and of little importance compared to the things of God. But it does not mean ‘not at all’. If it did, you could not only sit around, but you could smoke or do drugs and generally abuse your body. I don’t know any Christian teacher advocating that approach.
Rather we are urged in Isaiah chapter forty:
Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint
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I think walking and not being faint, running and not being weary are set up here as good things, don’t you agree?
Doing the Lord’s work
In the second book of Samuel chapter twenty-two (it’s also in Psalm eighteen) David says:
2Sam 22:30 (Psalm 18:20) For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.
He can’t do that, even by his God, if he is not in good physical shape. Remember Paul challenging the Corinthians:
1Cor 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
If that is so, and if you have a mission and a purpose from God, which you do, you need to look after your body. That involves watching what you are eating and taking exercise.
Watching what we eat
As for what you eat, it’s both quantity and quality. Firstly, we are all genetically different, so get to know your own limits. Bring your body into subjection, don’t eat more calories than you can burn up in a day. Secondly, there is healthy eating advice all over the place. Stuff about 5-a-day, superfoods, brown rice not white, avoiding sweeteners and colourants, eating natural not processed products. Look it up.
For exercise, you can go to the gym or just buy a pair of trainers and hit the streets. Me, I do both. I’m also a regular at the local Park Run and I try to run in total around twenty miles a week. I know when I do, I feel more alert and I don’t get sick. I’m better able to do God’s work.
And that’s what it’s all about. So get out there, get fit, start looking after yourself. Bodily exercise has an important place, for the little time we have.
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