Half of those who start an exercise program drop out within the first six months. Eighty percent are done with it by year two.(1) Fitness, the way we know it, doesn’t seem to keep us coming back.

You know what does keep us coming back? Food. Yep, we know we need to eat, so we keep doing it.

We don’t really need to move to stay alive. Or do we? If not eating makes us hungry, what are the consequences of not moving?

A shrunken brain. No, I’m not kidding. This is real.

The following is all research from the book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John Ratey:

“Toxic levels of stress erode the connections between the billions of nerve cells in the brain or that chronic depression shrinks certain areas of the brain…exercise unleashes a cascade of neurochemicals and growth factors that can reverse this process, physically bolstering the brain’s infrastructure.”
“Studies show that if researchers exercise rats that have been chronically stressed, that activity makes the hippocampus grow back to its preshriveled state. The mechanisms by which exercise changes how we think and feel are so much more effective than donuts, medicines, and wine.”
“Neurons get broken down and built up just like muscles—stressing them makes them more resilient. This is how exercise forces the body and mind to adapt.”

I also just learned about a jellyfish called a sea squirt who eats its own brain after it has attached to a stationary surface for life because it won’t be moving anymore, therefore no longer needs a brain. Which suggests that our brain evolved to help us move through life, and if we stop moving, well…

Okay okay, so a shriveled-brain fear factor may initially get us going, but what about when a deadline hits and your schedule narrows into survival mode, allowing you only to focus on work and sleep? Or you get injured and eventually feel too discouraged to start the long road back to recovery? Or you go on an extended vacation and forget how to get back on track?

Shame and fear work wonders temporarily, but like a fire under your seat burns out without the proper fuel, so we need the right motivation to move. I’m convinced that we don’t need to be chased into exercise, but we need to be moved by a vision of our life greater than ourselves so we can move towards it. Just like a movie is meant to move us emotionally, exercise is a by-product of our souls being pulled in a forward direction by something so attractive that we would push past any amount of daily inertia to go and get it. Being able to go and get what you want is empowering. And exercise gives us a taste.

We are human beings, dagnabit. We can survive in the arctic tundra, the dense rainforests, through civil wars and plagues and tsunamis. We are not weak. We will not [sit] silently into the night. We are passionate. We are dreamers. We are makers. We are movers!

We just need the proper motivation to get us off the couch first.

What is this shiny bait we so desperately want and will keep us moving towards it? It’s not to eat more donuts (although yes, donuts are delicious). It’s…drumroll please…

Joy.

I admit, joy itself is an abstract concept. You want something you can dig your teeth into.

We’re Getting Warmer…

But it’s not imaginary not when you tie it to a real person. That person, I’m suggesting, is Jesus. And how do we move towards Jesus without us being able to see Him? Wouldn’t an electric hare on a greyhound racing track be more useful? Wouldn’t a program that told me how many jumping jacks to do to lose 5 pounds be even better? Sure, but the greyhound is disappointed when he gets the fake hare, and the jumping jacks get boring and we still have 50 more years to live and keep our body fit.

The beginning of movement is not a fire underneath our seat but a fire within our bones. Joy has been planted into our hearts to keep us moving towards things that bring us life: eating, reproducing, and moving. We need to connect movement to our daily life to continue surviving and thriving.

And beyond those earthly functions, joy continues to draw us to the eternal source of life: God Himself. Because we really aren’t fully satisfied with any of those things until we find (or rather, or found by) Him. The only One who can spark that fire and quench that thirst for joy is Jesus.

It starts with our Maker, with knowing that He first moved towards us. Because to be honest, we are tired of trying to run our own race. We have tried the programs, we have done the whole gym thing, and nothing sticks around. We feel lonely, like no movement fits our lives; like no movement fits us, for that matter.

We’re worn out, and yet we want more.

We want more from what fitness can promise us.

We want more than abs, we want intimacy!

We want more than temporary stress relief, we want lasting peace that can weather any storm!

We want more than increased energy, we want to make a lasting eternal impact!

We want more than first place on the leader board, we want to experience meaningful victory with others!

We want more than a long life, we want to do the best with what we’ve been given and hear Someone say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

Reset Your Fitness Mindset

Yes, we can have all those things in the Lord. If you’re wondering how these lofty ideals of faith all connect to our daily workout, you can read it all in my book Move for Joy: An Intuitive Training Approach to Pursue God in Fitness and Find Happiness. But it all starts here.

Let’s meditate on this excerpt from the book about how Jesus first moved towards us. I’m confident it will be the spark that grows into a movement of life-long thankfulness:

“And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger’” (Luke 2:10-12).

The word “joy” was used plenty of times in the Old Testament. But when Jesus entered the world in the New Testament, the writers of the Bible described joy as “grace recognized.” God’s people had been waiting and working for thousands of years for God’s promises to come to fruition. And finally, what they had been waiting for, grace, the forgiveness of sins through Christ, was here! They were filled with the gladness of grace. Joy is ful-fill-ment.

The angel gave them a physical sign to follow and receive their joy. But not all came to worship the baby Jesus. The scribes who told the wise men where the King was to be born in Bethlehem knew exactly where He was, but didn’t go and see Him. They may have known the source of joy in their heads, but their feet didn’t move in response. They missed out on real joy!

Fitness in the Bible

The Bible often describes seeking the Lord with action words. Highlight the verbs in the verses below:

• “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

• “Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?’ And he said to him, ‘Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.’” Luke 17:19

• “And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” Luke 15:20

On our way to Jesus, he rewards us with the peace of rest. On our way back from praising Jesus, He fills us up to pour His joy out to others. And as we return to him like the prodigal son, no matter how many times, He runs to us. Can you imagine how His face lights up when He sees us turning to Him?

(For more Scripture on fitness, read this post)

The Joy in Fitness

Messages of fitness culture include individual effort, no excuses allowed, and a bit of shame is necessary for proper motivation. No, my friends, not in the Lord. There is no condemnation on His face. Whether you have never worked out a day in your life, or have exercised for all the wrong reasons, Jesus keeps no record of wrongs. He came down from heaven for you, went to the cross for you, and is with you!

“Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

As your face was the joy for Him set beyond the cross, so is His face the joy set before us on our fitness journey and beyond the pain of perseverance. We are free to experience the joy of salvation not as a one-time event, but a lifelong journey with Him.

This is the difference between a simple runner’s high and and running with the Lord Most High: a runner’s high fades like a battery-powered lamp, while the joy of the Lord is an energy source we have constant connection to. Moving our feet in faith flips the joy switch, and His presence sustains us throughout life— this life and the next!

Respond

How has the pursuit of fitness worn you out?

What do you want more of?

How can you find it in Jesus today?

MORE

If you enjoyed this post, you can read more in my book Move for Joy: An Intuitive Training Approach to Pursue God in Fitness and Find Happiness. You can buy the book on Amazon, and find more resources for the book here.

References

(1) Emily Sohn, “Exercise is fundamental to good health. So why do few Americans stick with it?” The Washington Post, May 7, 2017, accessed May 23, 2019, https://www. washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/exercise-is-fundamental-to-good-health-so- why-do-few-americans-stick-with-it/2017/05/05/2c537338-2e81-11e7-8674-437ddb6e813e_ story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.38a7de1c129f.

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