Have You Ever Found Joy in Jesus Through Exercise?
What is it about the movement of our bodies that makes our minds to move as well?
Over the years, I’ve come to realize that I often think clearest while on my feet. Whether at a standing desk with a stack of books before me, or on a brisk walk in tennis shoes around the neighborhood, there’s just something about movement that stirs my mind into motion as well.
And I don’t just mean motion forward — moments of breakthrough or solutions to a problem — but upward. For while seated, I can tend to take for granted God’s sustaining grace in my life. As a comfy chair upholds my body and a sturdy desk supports my things, I don’t feel just how needy I truly am. All that changes, however, the moment I get my muscles working, lungs breathing, and blood pumping. It is then that I am, yet again, brought both to recognize and rely upon God’s continued care for me.
Upward Exercise
In his new book, A Little Theology of Exercise, our very own Pastor David Mathis welcomes us into the wonder that is human movement. In particular, the exercise of the human body and its connection to the soul.
He begins by helping us see what crowds of scientists and physicists have long recognized — that in man, we have a veritable Swiss army knife of motion.1 God’s design of muscles, ligaments, rotation, and balance is enough to fascinate the mind for a lifetime. Yes, we are truly fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps. 139:14).
In the heart of the book, the invitation for us to experience this wonder firsthand is explored. The encouragement to not only take it in as an intellectual exercise, but experience it as a physical one. To get our arms swinging, and legs striding in such a way that we feel God’s pleasure.
As we do, the hope is that we will begin to see that movement is no accident. Neither is it irrelevant to life as a Christian. Yes, we can see how exercise can easily become an idol. On the other hand, we can also see just how little our world, with all its technological advances, requires that we exercise at all. Still, God gave us movement as a gift to be put to spiritual use. As an “Assistant, rather than an adversary, to Christ-exalting joy.”2 Movement is a means to help us grow in love for Jesus.
Have you ever exercised for the purpose of increasing your joy in Jesus?
Invitation to Godward Movement
I don’t know where you are at in terms of movement and exercise. For some, what began as a well-meaning practice may have turned into a runaway idol. Something far less about the good of your soul, and far more about the expansion of your pride.
For others, exercise may only be a thing of the past — an activity you no longer feel you have the time for. Or, perhaps an activity you’ve yet to regularly engage in.
In either case, I want to encourage you in this season to consider exercise anew. To look down at your feet, then at your hands, and ask, “How might God be pleased to use my movement as means to make me happier in him?” If you’re struggling to find an answer, I can tell you, having read the book in full, that this resource is chock-full of them.
Movement, brothers and sisters, is a God-given wonder. Perhaps it’s time to begin experiencing this wonder firsthand.
1 Mathis, David. P. 4
2 Mathis, David. P. 2
