Stand, Walk, or Run... But Also Have Fun

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
- Deuteronomy 6:5 (NIV)



There seems to be a lot of emphasis these days on exercise and our health in general. Just go in to any Wal-Mart and you'll see rows and rows of workout videos with various celebrities hosting them. My family did and ended up getting a few. We went home and put one in. The boys loved it. I kind of enjoyed it, except when the host or hostess smiled and said something to the effect of: “You just walked a mile and it doesn't even feel like it. Don't you feel great?” I said to myself: “It does too feel like it, and no...I don't feel great! I feel like I'm gonna pass out!”

After I sat down and was able to rest and put my heart back in to my chest, I remembered that the Bible is full of scriptures that contain exercise-like phrases. Phrases like (all from the NIV): “Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today”(Exodus 14:13),“Let us walk in the light of your presence” (Isaiah 2:5),“Run in such a way as to get the prize.” (1st Corinthians 9:24)

Now while exercise may or may not be fun to you, there are three things in those scripture verses that will be fun. It will be fun to see ourselves delivered from the evil one (Satan), once and for all, on the day that we see Jesus
in Heaven. It will be awesome to walk in the light of His presence… in Heaven… forever and ever. Lastly, it will be fun, not tiring, to run towards Jesus…the prize as we enter the beautiful gates of Heaven.
However, there is a catch (there’s always a catch, huh?):

We must do some spiritual exercises if we want to be able to do the three things listed above.

1. We must stand firm against the evil one and stand for what is right, what is Godly.

2. We must walk in righteousness and Holiness.

3. We must walk away when others are trying to get us to do things that Jesus would never do.

Finally, we must run to Jesus. In trouble we must run to Jesus. In temptation we must run to Jesus. Before our life has ended on this earth...we must run to Jesus. So stand, walk, and run, but also have fun. Jesus will help you to have more fun than you ever thought possible! All you have to do is ask!

"People Don't Talk Anymore"

“An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.”
Proverbs 12:25 (NIV)

A couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday morning, I was in my six year-old son Jonathan's room. I had laid out his clothes for him to wear to church. As he was dressing, I sat down on the floor, pulled out my cell phone and started fiddling with it. I was deleting past calls, past messages, etc. Jonathan started saying something to me, but I didn't hear a word of it. I was too engrossed in what I was doing. I just kept saying something like: “Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh.” Well, that got Jonathan mad!
He came over, knelt down in front of me, took my face in his hands, and asked if I had heard what he had said. I replied that I actually had not. He then scrunched up his face, looked me right in the eyes and said (in a really loud voice): “Dad...people don't talk anymore!' ”


I asked him what he meant by that. He said something that I'll remember for a long time: “People don't talk anymore. You're always on your phone, Mom's always checking her email, and Matthew's always on his 'Leapster' (an electronic game). People don't talk anymore!”

“Wow!” I thought to myself. “He's right. People don't talk anymore...at least not as much as they used to. Pretty insightful for a six year-old”. I put my phone down, looked him right in the eye, and said: “Okay Jonathan...you got me. Now what did you want to talk to me about?” He started telling me, but to be honest, I can't remember what it was. I was too busy reflecting on what he had said before that:
“People don't talk anymore!”


It was hard coming up with a scripture verse to go along with this devotion. But I believe the one above fits. We live in a stressful world, and as a result, we often suffer from what I like to call “Anxious Heart Syndrome”. A “kind word” can cheer us up and make all the difference in the world. Jonathan was right. People are
(or at least they seem to be) always on the phone, or the computer, or an iPod, or whatever. We should talk more. And when I say “talk”, I mean… literally, with our voice. Not text, or email or Twitter (whatever that is), but with our voice.

Let's all try that. Let's all try to take ten minutes, put down our electronic devices, turn off the television, put down our books or magazines, and talk...really talk. Let's all try our best to give those special people in our lives the attention and “kind word” that they so desperately need.