One Meaningful Thing I did Today - Gym + Psalms(1) msg 2
Physical exercise is good; it keeps your blood pumping, it helps your body exercise even parts and muscles you didn't know you have, it relaxes the muscles, it keeps you fit, it revives and refreshes your whole being, it gives a you a good kind of tiredness, it keeps you away from many other sinful / useless activities, and... it also gives you time to listen to something / watch something. Many times the TV is on(at least 3-4 screens at the Archway Leisure Centre where I usually go) and there is sport, news, music, cooking, TV shows, etc. All kinds of entertainment, from tennis to cricket, from football to music, from witty shows to horse racing, from news to weather... - the whole world is there for you to enjoy: all you need to do is switch between the available channels to listen and watch!
But I prefer listening to something from my own device - and since I'm in "tech", I sometimes listen to tech podcasts - I love the TWIT.tv series with Leo Laporte(TWIT, TWIG, TWIS), the Buzz Out Loud, the people at Engadget(especially after they left - This Is My Next), and other tech podcasts. But today as I started listening to one of these podcasts I felt NO PEACE, no rest in me... and by now I know why - I FEED ON THE WRONG THING! Yes, many people listen to all kinds of music to keep their blood pumping and keep you going in a strong way - but as a believer in the Lord, you just don't feel peace and life when doing that(I tried, believe me...).
Even when listening to the seemingly harmless tech podcasts - sometimes the divine life in you just doesn't give you a good feeling!So I started listening to the message for this week - message 2 of the Crystallization-Study of the Psalms, and I got LIFE! I realized there's a battle today for humanity - God wants to gain man, and Satan also wants to gain(mainly to ruin) man. Satan got in first, corrupted man, and now man has sin in himself + man is in direct rebellion to God. There's so much rebellion in me - and I can't get rid of it, I can't manage it, I can't change that, and I can't eradicate it! It's almost as if there's a cancer in me which is growing... and I can't do anything about it! Well, the only way, as revealed in Psalm 2, is to KISS THE SON! Just love the Lord! Open to Him in love, tell Him to draw you and to capture your heart... - and even if you're on the cross-trainer, on the treadmill, or lifting weights, if you genuinely groan and pray to the Lord, He will somehow gain your heart a bit more. It's not by the "smashing of those idols" but it's by "the beaming of His beauty, the unveiling of His heart"(see Has Thou Heard Him, Seen Him, Known Him?)
So,... I got to kiss the Lord while I was working out at the gym! People around me showing off, working on their 6-pack, running on the cross-trainer like crazy, or lifting an unbelievable amount of weights... but I could turn within and tell the Lord that I love Him! This may not completely change me or fully eliminate the rebellion in me, but I pray it may bring me more in an intrinsic way under God's government, under God's authority, in God's kingdom. I can tell you now, I love the Lord more....
[Disclaimer: Sorry, I am purposing in myself - today I'm talking about "One Meaningful Thing I Did Today and it's gonna be something outward", but there's something in me that just doesn't allow me to speak of outward things only - without adding the real MEANING, God as the meaning and reality of my human life! Going to the gym - such a random, common, tiring, or sometimes even boring thing - yet it can be filled with a precious touch of the Lord...]
God is the one who when added to our mundane, everyday, common, and also extraordinary, fun, amazing day to day lives can really add any kind of true meaning.
ReplyDeleteThis challenge you are doing reminded me of this verse: Gen 47:9 which states: And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The years of my sojourning are one hundred thirty years; few and evil have been the years of my life..."
Few and Evil. These are the only kinds of days we have. The first, the few, are the meaningful ones, the ones spent living in the index of His eyes. And all the others, whether good or bad, whether exciting or not, whether wrought with joy or suffering, are evil because they are days wasted in the eyes of the Lord.
May He grant you many more MEANINGFUL experiences in the next 27 days, ones for you to write about and even many more that you wouldn't.
Lord, grant us, ordinary days under the divine dispensing.
Amen WKC :)
ReplyDeleteReminded me of this hymn, which I posted on my blog a couple of months ago:FTTL Graduation (and all the other days).
5. And all the other days that make my life,
Marked by no special joy or grief or strife,
Days filled with quiet duties, trivial care,
Burdens too small for other hearts to share;
6. Spend Thou these days with me, all shall be Thine,
So shall the darkest hour with glory shine.
Then when these earthly years have passed away,
Let me be with Thee in the perfect day.
May all our days be meaningful - days spent with the Lord :)
This is a good idea, maybe I should pick a thirty-day challenge!
PS: Blogspot? How am I supposed to know if you reply to me comment?
Amen. Sarahlee. ;)
ReplyDeleteI love that song. Especially those two stanzas. "all the other days..."
I have also been considering a 30-day challenge...am thinking it should have to do something with those blogs of mine that seem to be going nowhere fast. ;) suggestions????