Recently, I had the opportunity to reflect on this principle with my sons, who are beginning to show interest in athletics. In many ways running is a very simple sport. Like all our passions, however, motivation and inspiration are found in a healthy exchange of ideas. So, we read about what runner’s are doing. Successful running is a mixture of hard efforts, easy efforts, and rest. For years runners all over the United States set aside Sunday as a day to run longer distances. I assume this stems from the fact that most folks find themselves rested on Sunday with nowhere pressing to go. Regardless, this program worked in cycles built around a seven day work week. These days many runners are now advocating a ten day cycle. These guys have great reasons for doing this, but I don’t live in ten day cycles and Sundays just aren’t days for long runs.

In first Timothy 4:8 the Apostle Paul tells us, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Indeed, we ought to be passionate about being physically healthy, but we need to be more passionate about our spiritual health.

Spiritual health begins with the gospel. No person was ever made spiritually whole merely through their own effort. Our sins are forgiven and our souls therefore healed by the sin destroying, soul healing work of Christ. Yet, we do well to remember that because we trust in Christ, the patterns and habits of our life must work to promote and strengthen our faith.

God gave us a pattern for spiritual living that follows a seven day cycle. Many Christians find the energy and the renewal necessary to persevere in the faith by the grace that comes through following God’s Sabbath pattern established in Genesis. Genesis 2 opens this way, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” God was not tired and in need of a nap. He was establishing a pattern for people to follow.

On Mount Sinai, when the law is given, the Sabbath instruction reads like this, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.” Moses roots this command in the creation pattern, “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

When my oldest Son came across the recent research about ten day cycles for training to run, he asked me if this was something we would try. In response I suggested that we stick with the pattern given to us by our Maker. God created us; it makes sense to believe he knows what we need.

A day of rest is an important part of any physical training program. A day of rest is also an important part of cultivating godliness. Because we trust in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, we seek to live according to the instructions of His word. When we spend the Lord’s day engaged in the pursuits of the marketplace, we lack the refreshment needed to persevere. I am not suggesting that salvation is obtained by keeping the law, but I am suggesting that our enjoyment and use of God’s gifts of grace is improved by cultivating habits and patterns established by our Creator and Redeemer. If you have not made Sunday a day of rest and spiritual nourishment, my prescription for your spiritual health is that you make a change.

See you next Sunday,

Pastor Andy