We all would like to be physically fit; but wanting it without doing something about it doesn’t make it so.  We might study fitness and talk often about what it takes to be fit; but only talking and studying it doesn’t lead to real action.  We are quick to teach others that they should be fit; but teaching won’t make us suddenly be fit.  We might buy all the latest exercise equipment to show others how to be fit; but if the equipment ends of being fancy clothes hangers, then we are probably not benefiting from these resources.  We remain flabby and soft.

Being fit takes time, sweat, pain, and courage to stay with it until the desired goal is met.  This “code of behavior” is called discipline!  (I’m preaching to myself and probably the choir!)  Friends, we know better.  To reach a desired goal is to buckle down, throw the biscuits and gravy in the trash, and get to work daily to be and stay fit, right?!  I am guilty of eating a salad and exercising for a rough 30 minutes expecting immediate results of lost pounds with a toned body right after this attempt of being fit for a day!  Friends, that ‘s just not going to happen.  I confess, I’ve tried.  It is a day by day, week by week, year by year of transforming our minds which changes our behaviors to reach our fitness goals.

Paul mentors Timothy that to be FIT will require faithful intentional training that is needed to show others who also desire to be fit.  His training goal is passing on the most important information on the planet—the Message of Truth!  Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life!  Paul includes—Practice what you Preach! 

Timothy 4, The Message

Teach with Your Life

^1-5 The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars. These liars have lied so well and for so long that they’ve lost their capacity for truth. They will tell you not to get married. They’ll tell you not to eat this or that food—perfectly good food God created to be eaten heartily and with thanksgiving by believers who know better! Everything God created is good, and to be received with thanks. Nothing is to be sneered at and thrown out. God’s Word and our prayers make every item in creation holy.

^6-10 You’ve been raised on the Message of the faith and have followed sound teaching. Now pass on this counsel to the followers of Jesus there, and you’ll be a good servant of Jesus. Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we’ve thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We’re banking on the living God, Savior of all men and women, especially believers.

^11-14 Get the word out. Teach all these things. And don’t let anyone put you down because you’re young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity. Stay at your post reading Scripture, giving counsel, teaching. And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed—keep that dusted off and in use.

^15-16 Cultivate these things. Immerse yourself in them. The people will all see you mature right before their eyes! Keep a firm grasp on both your character and your teaching. Don’t be diverted. Just keep at it. Both you and those who hear you will experience salvation.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

BE FIT—STAY FIT!

1. Daily seek God first and listen to Him.  There are professional liars who have lied so long they are believers of their own deceptive knowledge! —Avoid them!  Don’t listen to the lies!  What God says is always true and never changes.  God cannot not fail or tell lies.  It is not in His nature.  God is for us, not against us who believe what He says.  Stay on the Lit Path to stay FIT!
2. Exercise daily in and with God.  Daily study His simple Message of Truth.  Know God.  Know Truth who is Jesus the Way to God.  Pass on this Way of Truth so others will know and believe in Jesus, too, with the hope of eternal life!  This is not merely a one time show of support but a daily disciple that builds spiritual muscles of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.   
3. Paul helps us understand how to daily develop the fitness we seek; “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” –Paul, Romans 12:1-2, MSG  God is our training coach who is with us always and gives us power to transform to fitness by His Spirit working in us!
4. Teach believers with your life:by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity.  Others will know who you believe by how you live. Do our lives match what we say we believe about Jesus?
5. Cultivate and immerse ourselves in our Faithful Intentional Training of knowing and following Jesus.  When we do, we show the world a glimpse of what Jesus can do in a life disciplined to keeping a firm grasp on growing in Christ with a desire to be more like Him every day.  Salvation of the world through Jesus is our spiritual fitness goal.

Lord,

Thank you for your words of wisdom that spurs us on to reach our fitness goals, with you helping us! Thank you for your wisdom and strength to sustain us and prompt us keep at it daily.  May we quickly get back on track on those days when we falter.  And most of all, may others see the changes you are making in us with a desire to wonder who is making a difference in our lives!  Give us the words to say as we pass on your salvation truth.

In Jesus Name, Amen