Don't Exercise by Routine

I Timothy 4:8

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

When I first read this I thought of all the people who go exercising every morning. They wake up early every morning to work out for hours, most of which do even before their first bite to eat and before their first cup of coffee. I look at these people with respect because it takes most of them discipline to first role out of bed when they could easily hit the snooze button and take the day off saying, “I’ll make up for it tomorrow”.

Exercises has a lot of benefits, and I encourage you try it, but “training for godliness is much better”. This is because when one studies, and puts into practice, Scripture God will bless them here on earth for their loyalty and servitude as well as reward them for their diligent work. Now Timothy doesn’t tell us to read for godliness, but rather to train for godliness. Just as an exercise nut wakes up with the purpose of training and exercising, so should we wake up with the purpose of training in God’s Word. Training isn’t easy because it requires discipline to continually participate in, and be all in to, the activity. We also can’t let our training in the Scripture become a regimen; for as all star athletes change up their routine so it is more impactful, so we also should switch up the regimen so we won’t be stuck in the pit of regimen.

I personally struggle with my faith becoming a regimen, so to prevent this from happening I am going to have my devotionals in another place and change up my pattern of how I begin my morning.