Staying in Shape!

I’ve begun to notice a pattern everyday when Fiver and I go for our daily walks along the golf course next to our home.  In the mornings when we take our first jaunt of the day, the golfers are usually made up of older men who are up early and want to hit the course before everyone else does!  On weekends the men are many times accompanied by older women, whom I suspect of being their wives.  Most of these folks are very friendly and many times stop to comment on Fiver or like yesterday, over my San Francisco Giants hoodie that I tend to wear in the cool of the morning.  Since we walk every day, we have already made friends with some of the regulars!

In mid-afternoon, the course is dotted with golf carts driven my younger men.  When the weather is nice, we’ll also see young and middle age women in their short golf skirts walking the course with their golf bag push carriers in tow.  I have to admit that I often times let my mind wander and find myself thinking of how cute Piper would have looked in one of those golf outfits!  She always took good care of herself and would have enjoyed wearing one!

If I were a golfer, I think that I would rather walk the course than buzz around on the electric carts.  For me, part of the attraction of playing the game would be all the additional exercise one could get while walking along the finely manicured greens!

And speaking of exercise, in the last few years, with everything that I have been through, I have come to the personal conclusion that God must be in pretty good shape!  As I have studied my Bible and taken various courses of actions based on the truth of God’s Word, I’ve become aware of the ACTION STEPS or maybe you could say exercise that God expects of someone who pursues the Christian faith.  Christianity is most definitely NOT a sedentary religion!  I think that Piper was way before her time when she suggested that we call our new college-age group at the Baptist Church in 1971, “Faith ACTION!”

Take for example a study I started yesterday on Psalm 37:7 where the Psalmist declares, “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” (KJV)  When I think of “resting” and/or “waiting patiently,” I think of doing it while sitting on a comfortable chair, reclining under a big leafy tree, or as I lie on a nice soft bed, …wouldn't you?

Well according to the original Hebrew spoken in this verse, “rest” to God means to, “be astonished, to submit to another’s control” (Strong’s & Thayer’s) or as Finis Dake states, “to calmly resign and leave all things in the hands of God.”  But wait… Are we to accomplish this while we just sit around and do nothing?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!  Strong’s informs us that to “wait patiently” literally means “to twist or whirl in a circular or spiral manner,” or simply “to dance!”  And again, Finis Dake suggests that this ACTION is the specific way in which we “set ourselves to EXPECT God to answer.”  Likewise, Adam Clarke renders the “wait patiently” part of this verse as to “set thyself to EXPECT Him, and be determined to EXPECT or wait for Him.”

As I was studying these various commentaries this morning, I looked up the word “set” in the Oxford Online Dictionary and it defined its ACTION as “to put or bring into a specified state; to adjust.”  And my immediate thought after reading this was that when we step out in faith to “REST in the Lord and WAIT PATIENTLY for Him,” we, in actuality, are being told to actively “ADJUST” our attention away from dependence on our own resources, and onto a total dependence on HIS RESOURCES! Which I’ve learned over and over again, is the one thing that the enemy of our faith will fight us the most vehemently over! 

I saw it when a few well meaning folks did their best to try and persuade Piper and I to follow their advice rather than go with our faith, I saw it throughout the Presidential campaign when news reporters and political party leaders would constantly do their best to try and lead the people of our country as well as the President away from the truth, and over to their false narrative, and I see it today, as I work diligently to focus on what I believe that the Lord has specifically told me to do, while other sources tell me to do differently… because “this is what’s best for you!”

Well… through it all, I’m determined to stay in shape and get the EXERCISE that my Christian faith demands of me… and in doing so, agree with Joshua when he declared in front of the nation of Israel, “but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15 KJV)  And when necessary, I’ll do it by dancing before him while I wait patiently! 

HOW ABOUT YOU?

I pray that you get some exercise while you enjoy your weekend, and keep actively EXPECTING God’s best in your life!