Exercise Profits Little

"...exercise yourself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profits little: but godliness is profitable unto all things." -- I Timothy 4:7-8

I'll be honest, I'm not getting any younger. This November, I will turn 36. My "dad shaped" body is...well..."dad shaped". Time and energy have seemed to be low since moving to Antofagasta, due to moving, adjusting, and general cultural stress. Until...until I was invited to play some indoor soccer with a bunch of guys from Tom Chapman's church. Most Monday nights, we meet at a little downtown gym to play "baby fútbol" (or indoor soccer). We rent the gym for one hour and split the cost (around $2.oo US per person).

This time to kick the ball around has been encouraging to me on several levels:

*The Physical Level - Motivated by some friends to get out and put on some gym clothes, I have looked forward to this "low-level" pain called physical exercise. While the following morning, I may disagree with the previous sentence, it's something I need.

*The Pastoral Level - Edgar (a new believer) has been playing with us whenever he can. After each time of playing, we had some frank and encouraging discussions about what's going on in our hearts while competing. Competition brings out the best and worst in us sometimes. Being competitive isn't wrong, but in these discussions we've been able to point out some things in our lives that are wrong or sinful reactions, thoughts, or attitudes. Playing together has deepened our discipleship relationship. We are learning together. Man to man. Heart to heart. Edgar is now learning to play as a Christian. Giving glory to God. Thanking Him for an opportunity to play. Learning to play as a team, instead of only thinking about himself. My pastoral heart is thrilled to hear him tell me about these changes in his life. The Holy Spirit is helping him connect the dots between his new faith in God and how he should live life day to day.

*The Practical Level - It gives me something to do with "the guys". It's informal. It's fun. It's a diversion from daily life.

*The Parental Level - I took Jordan and Ben to the last game, despite it starting at 10 pm at night. They were excited to go and watch. It turned out that we were short two guys, so we let Jordan and Ben play with us. I have been teaching them some fundamentals of soccer, so it was a chance to "push them off the deep end". They absolutely loved being able to play, although I think over half the time they were just jumping up and down while squealing. Jordan and Ben as STILL talking about it. It turned out to be a memorable night with their dad. Now Kaylee wants to go next time. We'll see.

So while these times of indoor soccer are only profiting little physically, it has proved to be a profitable time for spurring us on toward practical godliness.