Physical Fitness

Aerobics for the Mind and Spirit

Do you work out regularly to keep your body trim and fit? Perhaps you exercise at an aerobic level, keeping your heartbeat quite a bit higher than normal for several minutes every few days. If so, then you have a healthy pattern to follow for another kind of conditioning—the exercise of your mind and spirit.

Bodily exercise can yield tremendous benefits. Consider, then, how much more benefit you can derive from a regular regimen of “spiritual aerobics”! It has implications not only for this life, but for the life to come (1 Tim. 4:7–8). That is why the writer of Psalm 119 was intentional about personally getting into God's Word on a regular basis and putting it into practice. It was a discipline that meant life itself (Ps. 119:93).

This lengthy psalm has twenty-two stanzas, arranged according to the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. We see eight words used in this translation to describe God's truth. We can consider these terms as eight different kinds of spiritual “exercises” through which to strengthen ourselves.

• Law. Of the eight terms, this is the one used most often in Ps. 119 (for example, 119:1, 18, 92). It reminds us that God's truth is to be obeyed (compare James 1:25).
• Testimonies. God's Word is a witness and a warning against sin and disobedience (Ps. 119:31, 152; compare Deut. 31:26).
• Precepts. This word conveys the idea of an overseer looking at life and attending to it much as a shepherd does with sheep (Ps. 119:4, 15; compare Jer. 23:2).
• Statutes. Like statutes, God's Word is enduring and obligatory (Ps. 119:8, 12; compare Is. 30:8).
• Commandments. This word reinforces the idea that God's truth is to be obeyed (Ps. 119:10, 47). It is authoritative for all of life.
• Ordinances. Scripture provides the standard for our dealings with each other and for our duties in life (Ps. 119:43, 91; compare 1 Sam. 10:25).
• Word. God has spoken, and we are to hear and respond (Ps. 119:11, 16–17; compare Ps. 33:4, 6).
• Judgments. God is the one who best discerns right from wrong and good from evil (Ps. 119:75).

What is your discipline for exercising your heart, soul, and mind in God's Word? If your physical heart needs so much healthy exercise so many times a week, perhaps a similar schedule would be in order for your inner life. One suggestion for getting started would be to read one psalm each day, or one chapter of Proverbs each day.

By regularly placing ourselves under the instruction of God's Word, we are promised great peace and security (Ps. 119:165).

For more on this topic, see DIETING, “The Value of Fasting”.