“My” boardwalk outside Edgewood

I went for a walk today…and a few hours later, I went for a run. The walk was better. Here’s why…

The walk, you see, wasn’t about fitness, just about prayer, though there might have been some side health benefits along the way. But I didn’t do it to get my heart in shape, at least not my physical heart, and that’s good because the pace was quite meandering. Now I’ve been praying and walking since my college days, and it is probably my favorite way to pray. (In 2008, I wrote a grant proposal on “walking prayer” to the Lilly Endowment, and $45,000 later, my family and I went to Europe for three months where I did a fair bit of prayer walking in the hills of Scotland, and all of us did a good bit of walking in Scotland and other never-to-forget locales.) I like to joke that the Lord put a boardwalk and an incredible walk right next to our church through woods and a marsh as a personal present to me, and I tend to call it “my boardwalk”, though I will let you walk on it every so often.

Anyway, I say that the walk today was better than the run because of what the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy…

…train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 (ESV)

Of course, it’s important to stay in shape. While I doubt Paul did push-ups, even he said that bodily training was of “some” value. And we know why: working out makes you feel better…and look better. In other words, it is good and important for the present, for this life, for the here and now. But…spiritual training and godliness, these things are important not just for today, but also for tomorrow. For this life…and the next.

So if some day in the future, all you have time for is a walk…or a run…well, you know what to do.

For Tuesday, September 1: 1 Timothy 5