Thu, 26 October, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

1 Timothy 4:6-9

⁶ If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. ⁷ Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; ⁸ for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. ⁹ The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance.

Exercise is a good thing. It can lessen your chance of chronic health problems. It can help you to enjoy life much more because you sleep better, have more energy, and just feel better. Most people don’t get enough exercise, and they could benefit greatly by just adding some physical activity to their lives.

But as much as we need physical exercise, we need something even more: spiritual exercise. We need to grow in sanctification. We need to learn to obey God, and to put it into practice every day.

What do we learn from this?

Godliness is a of value in every way. It is good for us in our lives today. But it also is our great hope in glory. We should strive to live like we will live in eternity. We will be glorified and freed from our sinful nature when die and enter God’s presence. Our goal is for that to be a small change for us, as we have been growing in godliness through the course of our spiritual lives.

But notice that godliness doesn’t just happen with not effort on our part. Paul tells us that we need to train ourselves in godliness. We are all familiar with the way we must discipline ourselves to do the unpleasant tasks of physical exercise, especially when we don’t feel like it. We have to exercise anyhow because we want the benefits. If we stop exercising every time we don’t feel like it, soon we are not exercising at all, and we lose all the benefits that would have come to us had we disciplined ourselves to continue our exercise routine.

Our spiritual lives require discipline also. We must continue to do the things that lead to our growing in godliness, even when we don’t feel like it. We must read our Bibles and pray. We must attend church every week. We must take part in the sacraments when they are presented. We must listen intently to the sermon and pray for God to use His word to change our lives. We must study the scriptures, memorize them and meditate upon them. We must commit ourselves to, with God’s enabling, obey His word. And as we find that we have failed again, we need to repent of our sin, and seek God’s forgiveness. Then out of gratitude for His forgiveness, we commit ourselves to live a life of obedience.

It is discipline. It is work. But the result is godliness, and that have value in every way.

Where is Christ in this passage?

When we consider Jesus’ life as presented in the scriptures, we see a life of discipline. He was fixed upon the goal the Father had set before Him: to live the perfect life and to die upon the cross. It was a difficult life He lead. But He did it for our sakes. He did it to win our salvation. And out of gratitude for what He has done, we too should lead a disciplined life, seeking after the godliness that is of value to us and that pleases Him.