Lopsided Health
"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, NIV).
Football season is upon us. That time of year when millions of armchair coaches sit back in their La-Z-Boys and scream at professional players telling them how they are doing everything wrong. The typical image that comes to mind is a middle aged man with an extended belly surrounded by a variety of chips, dips, hot wings, pizza rolls, and, of course, beer. The running joke is that the most exercise seen in football is when the fans run to the fridge for another beer or run to the restroom during commercial breaks.
It is also the season for soccer. When thousands of children run back and forth on a field kicking and heading a black and white ball. The sport has become so popular in America during the last couple of decades that the term Soccer Mom was invented in politics to describe the women who were too busy to focus on world events because they were carpooling their children to and from soccer practice and games.
Numerous other sports come to mind when you think about the typical American lifestyle: golf, baseball, track, basketball, fishing, the Olympics, bowling, biking, swimming, etc. On my cable I can find more than a dozen sports channels where I can participate in virtually any sport imaginable. There is nothing wrong with enjoying sports (watching or playing). Many claim that watching others play encourages them to take better care of their own bodies. And that is a very good thing. People also say that sports encourage fathers to spend more time with their children as they teach them the basics and help them practice to become even greater with their skills. And this is also a good thing.
So what is my point? Exactly what Paul shared to Timothy in the verse above. Taking care of your physical body, watching what you eat and getting the proper exercise all have some current value. But taking care of your spiritual life is something that will be of current and eternal value.
What can we do to help encourage others to take better care of their spiritual life? I don't see millions of people flipping to Christian television channels to cheer on other Christians as they battle Satan daily. We do not see nearly as many Church Moms running their children back and forth from Bible study classes or church choirs as we see Soccer Moms. Sadly we see very few fathers spending time with their children teaching them the basics about Christianity and helping them practice to become even greater in their Christian skills.
As Christians, we need to remember that while it is of some value to take care of the temporal things, we are to keep our eyes focused on the eternal things. Wouldn't it be great if our children saw us get as excited about Bible study and worship as they do when we go to an IronBirds game or a Ravens game. Imagine how happy God would be if we cheered for our children when they quoted a scripture verse just as much as when they hit a home run or kicked in a goal. Imagine how proud God would be if we encouraged our children to participate in church choir just as much as we encourage them to participate in baseball or soccer.
"Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." (1 Timothy 4:8b, NIV).
Football season is upon us. That time of year when millions of armchair coaches sit back in their La-Z-Boys and scream at professional players telling them how they are doing everything wrong. The typical image that comes to mind is a middle aged man with an extended belly surrounded by a variety of chips, dips, hot wings, pizza rolls, and, of course, beer. The running joke is that the most exercise seen in football is when the fans run to the fridge for another beer or run to the restroom during commercial breaks.
It is also the season for soccer. When thousands of children run back and forth on a field kicking and heading a black and white ball. The sport has become so popular in America during the last couple of decades that the term Soccer Mom was invented in politics to describe the women who were too busy to focus on world events because they were carpooling their children to and from soccer practice and games.
Numerous other sports come to mind when you think about the typical American lifestyle: golf, baseball, track, basketball, fishing, the Olympics, bowling, biking, swimming, etc. On my cable I can find more than a dozen sports channels where I can participate in virtually any sport imaginable. There is nothing wrong with enjoying sports (watching or playing). Many claim that watching others play encourages them to take better care of their own bodies. And that is a very good thing. People also say that sports encourage fathers to spend more time with their children as they teach them the basics and help them practice to become even greater with their skills. And this is also a good thing.
So what is my point? Exactly what Paul shared to Timothy in the verse above. Taking care of your physical body, watching what you eat and getting the proper exercise all have some current value. But taking care of your spiritual life is something that will be of current and eternal value.
What can we do to help encourage others to take better care of their spiritual life? I don't see millions of people flipping to Christian television channels to cheer on other Christians as they battle Satan daily. We do not see nearly as many Church Moms running their children back and forth from Bible study classes or church choirs as we see Soccer Moms. Sadly we see very few fathers spending time with their children teaching them the basics about Christianity and helping them practice to become even greater in their Christian skills.
As Christians, we need to remember that while it is of some value to take care of the temporal things, we are to keep our eyes focused on the eternal things. Wouldn't it be great if our children saw us get as excited about Bible study and worship as they do when we go to an IronBirds game or a Ravens game. Imagine how happy God would be if we cheered for our children when they quoted a scripture verse just as much as when they hit a home run or kicked in a goal. Imagine how proud God would be if we encouraged our children to participate in church choir just as much as we encourage them to participate in baseball or soccer.
"Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." (1 Timothy 4:8b, NIV).
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