For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come (1 Timothy 4:8 KJV).
One of the things Bible theologians have propounded to be hedged are things that are precious to us. Good health was the foremost practice they advocated for human beings to take particular attention of. The other subject or theory they find necessary is exercising.
At dawn usually, you find people in their track suites and stretchers going on a walk. For fat ones, it is to burn calories and for slimmer bodies, is to basically burn energy and to further keep the body very active. It is not for fun that people go on such walks because indeed health records have proven that, it brings some form of healing to the body.
Due to excessive sweating which is fat being burnt out, such persons do not easily fall sick. Remember it is this body that must stay fit to be able to practice the various forms of hedge philosophies to ensure victory over the devil and to bring deliverances to their lives.
As much as Bible has promoted adherence to the laws that defends our spiritual hedge protection, it also gives credence to body fitness. Spiritualists may not believe in physical fitness but the bible suggests that, though it’s of little significance, it still has some benefits as it’s already been established in the opening paragraphs.
Yet Bible still argues that, Godly or spiritual practice supersedes the two philosophies because the believer will not be tried on physical fitness. He will be tested on his success with spiritual things. Obviously the Bible refers to what will be judged in the life of the believer. The Christian believer will be judged on his works with the Almighty giving it interpretation and final judgement on the basis of its spiritual impact in being wrong or right, sin or good in that sense.
If this is the case then it makes sense therefore if the believer focuses all his attention on maintaining the spiritual hedge. But a healthy God must dwell in a sound body. Remember Bible admonishes us in Roman 12:1 for us to ‘keep our bodies (temples) as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. And so it is necessary to keep our bodies under sound conditions. The real temple is actually our bodies.
Remember if we practice spiritual exercises and values of our Christian life that promotes our spiritual hedges, it is either our home, jobs, businesses, wives or children that suffer physically or in what they do. Homes can be attacked, jobs can be affected, business can experience physical decline and children can become wayward in their dealings or undertakings.
And so spirituality and physicality are not worlds apart. They are interrelated and dependent on each other. One brings a bearing on another and that is why both must stay fit. The verse of scripture in 1 Timothy 4:8 continues to explain that, Godliness or spirituality has value on this earth and eternity.
Bible says ‘we are in this world but not of the world….. In John 17:14-16 suggests that, holding the promise of the world to come, we will be judged or tried with our practices on earth that may qualify or not qualify us to partake in the world to come. And so our physical existence and the things we do which will be tried is so necessary and the way we handle issues concerning it. We cannot do without our physical existence therefore and all that concerns it which will determine or world of immortality. There is the important need therefore to keep our physical and spiritual life on earth both ways healthy to be able to deliver our spiritual and physical activities soundly.
