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Writer's pictureBen Bounds

Gymnasia




In our culture we are surrounded with gyms, gym equipment, food supplements, sporting events and all things athletic. It is a time of year when football season is upon us, and the “great void” of off-season has finally come to an end. We can enjoy our teams, the foods of the coming holiday season and see our much-loved teams win or get trounced as we enjoy our friends and friendly rivalries. This is a very great time of year.


God created us for relationships with others as he created us for the ultimate relationship with him. We, as his creations, inhabit this physical body he calls a “temple.” We should care for this temple as best we can and this care of our physical being is very pointedly an aspect of worship, not only literally, but as a wonderful biblical metaphor.


In 1 Timoth 4:8 Paul uses the Greek word gymnasia which is translated “physical training.” Paul asserts the benefit of physical training, but with this metaphor posits the powerful biblical reality that, even though physical training has value and is a worthy pursuit, Paul uses the metaphor simply to elevate the ultimate training— “true godliness” —over and above training the body.


Why?


Because physical training has limitations to this current life of mortality. Training in true godliness has benefits in both this life in all its broken roads and crucibles as well as delivering us into the realm of indestructible, eternal life. As Gordon Fee puts it, “Indeed, it has value for all things…because it holds promise for life, both the present life and life to come. Life, which means 'eternal life' has already begun. The life of the future is therefore both a present reality and a hope of life to come.”[i]


Go ahead and get a membership in your local gym if you so desire. Develop and care for the physical temple God has created you to be.


But don’t forget your membership in God’s gym. Train yourself in prayer and his word daily. Commit your life to becoming a true follower Jesus Christ through confession of your sins to him and repenting of those sins (stop doing them).


Train yourself in “true godliness” which pleases God above all things. This is how you respond to your wonderful, self-revealing God!


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"...Rather, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily training is just slightly beneficial, but godliness is beneficial for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:7b-8 NASB 2020)


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[i] Fee, Gordon D., New International Biblical Commentary: 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishers, 104.


_________________________________________________________________________________ We can come to know Christ through confession of our sins and repentance (turning away from sin). Let me encourage you to do this by talking to God through prayer. Here is an idea of how you might do that:

"Dear God, I believe your son Jesus Christ died in my place on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day following his death. I confess my sins, all of them, to you now with a humble heart. I repent of those sins and ask you to empower me with your Holy Spirit in overcoming further sin. Amen” If you prayed this or a similar prayer committing your life to Christ and becoming one of his followers, let me encourage you to find a good, Bible-believing church. If you live in the Weslaco/Rio Grand Valley area of Texas, let me invite you to the church I attend, Mid-Valley Assembly (www.midvalleyassembly.com). Begin talking to God in prayer and reading the Bible daily. A good way to begin to read the Bible is to start with the Book of John in the New Testament. Feel very free in connecting with me if you need any further help in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can do this via the above email or facebook page or this web page. ___________________________________________________________________ Mercy Road Ministries was founded and now led by Ben Bounds. Ben has pastored churches across Texas for over thirty years and is an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He holds a BA in Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God College and did graduate theological studies at the BMA Theological Seminary. Ben's first book, The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God, was released on 12.08.2017 through Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. It is available in paperback and hardback through your preferred bookseller (Mardels, Barnes and Noble, etc.) and paperback, hardback as well as ebook through online book retailers (www.christianbook.com, www.cokesbury.com, www.amazon.com, www.booksamillion.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, etc.).

Ben is the host of Staying in Bounds, an on-air Bible devotional broadcast multiple times daily on KWJV 103.7 FM Weslaco, TX which can also be heard worldwide online at www.kwjvthestar.com. Ben and his wife, Linda, together have four adult children and nine grandchildren. They live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. Ben can be contacted for preaching engagements at benbounds695@gmail.com or 903.441.3279. Ben can also be contacted via his website @ www.benbounds.com, which is also his blog and contains more information about his ministry. Follow Ben @ https://www.facebook.com/mercyroadministries/ and this website www.benbounds.com.


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©2023 by Ben Bounds. All rights reserved.

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