Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with an encouraging word for your day. As summer time keeps rolling along, and the Summer Olympics have just ended, I thought it would be good to focus on getting in shape! We are so proud of Will Brown an AGF member who place 12th and 10th in his Olympic shooting events. Way to go Will! Being an Olympian takes discipline and getting fit does too. I know it sounds like hard work, but if we want to be strong and fit and live a long healthy life, we need to get in shape. If we want to run the race well for God, we need to be in shape spiritually too. Let’s do both! Here is your dailyeword.
I can hear you breathing a sigh of relief. Whew! You’re thinking, spiritually in shape – I can do that! We definitely need to be strong from the inside out. But, I do think both are important. We need to be in shape spiritually. We should know what we believe, why we believe it, and be people who put our faith into action and are doers of the Word. At the same time, we do need to be in shape physically, because if we want to fulfill our purpose on this earth, we need to be healthy enough for our physical heart to keep on ticking.
I know most of you would probably be appalled if one of our pastors stood up in the pulpit with a cigarette in his mouth, puffing away. What is surprising is that we don’t even give it a second thought if he would be 100 pounds overweight and preaching in the pulpit. We think smoking is way worse for us. What is interesting is that just recently, the largest percentage of deaths in America changed from being a result of smoking, to being a result of heart disease, often a symptom of being overweight. YIKES!!!! There are more diseases that are a result of overeating than any other indicator. We as a population are just way too fat and lazy. Lest you think I am casting stones, I know the pain of being overweight. It is easy to go to food for comfort, or to ease stress, or even to cover up for pain. Because of our busy lifestyles, we often choose convenience food over healthy food. We should be choosing health over convenience. I’ve done it, and I’m sure you have too. If we want to run our race, and make it to the finish line, not only do we have to be faithful to God in our spiritual life, we need to be faithful to God in our physical life. Let’s set aside those weights that so easily beset us, and run the race, and make it to the finish line, healthy and strong. We can get to heaven sick, but we don’t have to. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to put the words old and sick together. Let’s contend for health to our dying day. Let’s be old, wise, experienced, and healthy, making the most of every day, so that we can live long on the earth and fulfill our personal assignment here on earth, doing what God has purposed for us to accomplish.