Faith, Friendships, & Fitness

Psalm 119:34-35 “Give me an understanding heart so that I can passionately know and obey your truth. Guide me into the paths that please you, for I take delight in all that you say.” (TPT).

We will kick off today’s devotional with a question and the question is, if you do not have to study the Word of God, will you? If you do not have to

 read your Bible, to search the scriptures for God’s direction, will you? The truth is if you do not enjoy the Word of God, if you do not enjoy listening and being taught the Word of God, you cannot survive being a Christian. If you do not enjoy worship and fellowship, you cannot survive as a Christian. You need to enjoy hearing the Word. If there is a gift we must give the next generation, it is that gift of enjoying God.

Yes, you have taught your children maths, calculus, and coding and they are bagging awards. Praise God for that. But do your children know God and enjoy God? Can they just sit down and worship God by themselves? Yes, they can play Nintendo for three hours. But can they worship God for one hour? They can play FIFA for four hours. But can they worship God for two hours? When we can deliver the enjoyment of God to the next generation, then we will have succeeded. And it is because that is the biggest inheritance, we can give our children. 

What is the status of the fun factor in your friendships? Psalm 133:1 “How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!” Are your friends, the people you do life with, are they fun? Is it pleasurable (enjoyable) being around them? If you do not have to see XYZ person, will you? If you do not have to call ABC, will you? If you do not have to hang out with QRT, will you? If you are only hanging out with QRT because you have to, there is a problem. Your friendships should be filled with fun. It is the fun in friendships that keeps it going. Proverbs 17:22 “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” (NIV). It is scientifically proven that a joyful heart affects and heals the body. 

It is the fun in fitness that keeps fitness going. When you are having fun and your heart is joyful, it is easier to be fit. The heart can be troubled, or the heart can be joyful. Guess what? Life and the enemy want to pull you into a troubled heart. But they will fail in Jesus Name. However, God is pulling you into not just a peaceful heart, but into a joyful heart and your heart will be joyful in Jesus Name. Proverbs 14:30 “A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body…”. The question is, is staying fit fun, pleasurable, and enjoyable for you? Is exercise and exercising fun? Is having a good diet fun? The truth is you can only make fitness last if it is fun. 

Prayer: Father, help me to be deliberate about infusing and sustaining the fun factor in my faith, friendships, and fitness, in the Mighty Name of Jesus. Amen!