Antioch Agent

There are signs of wear and tear everywhere. My ever faithful Iswara reached her 200,000 km point recently but is really starting to show her age as she creak in every department. She has weathered much over these years shouldering the heavy responsibility of being the ‘utility’ car also enduring countless hours of KL traffic with me. Of jams, I really don’t quite mind the KL ones, because it occasions me time for listening to an audio message or having conversations with my car pool colleague or sometimes simply because it’s just fun trying to negotiate through jams in the shortest time possible. Lately however, there has been one of the side effect of jams that’s starting to show on me. The left knee’s been hurting a bit  due to working the tight clutch on my old faithful through the cumulative hours of slow crawls. Reality finds it such that it’s not only the car creaking, but so is her master. Everything ages.

More signs of aging … over the weekend, decided to go for a long overdue badminton session with brother in law. The grip on the untouched badminton racket absolutely crumbled to pieces leaving my hands with bits of black, sticky rubberized tape. Good thing he had a spare one to loan me. Put on my worn-out-Power’s and just after 4 to 5 strokes, the whole the sole broke and almost completely detached from the shoe. I shuffled over to the little equipment shop at the sports center to quickly purchase a replacement. Fortunately for me there was one in my size which was in a respectable white. The human body isn’t quite like that, where you can get parts simply replaced, stitched up and you’re as good as new. Cosmetically maybe yes,  ‘internally’ … probably not quite (I’d allow for some exceptions to the rule).

Well, getting back onto the court after countless months of non physical exertion shows on you pretty quick, especially when your sparring partner continually sends you chasing across the court for just about every shuttle. 30 minutes into it and I was calling for timeout (for the record, i later played another 30). I was thinking, maybe i should have just eased myself back by playing doubles instead. Still … excuses, excuses.

By the end of the year I’ll be reaching my glorious third decade. There’s certainly some signs of wear and tear, as my tired legs and slightly aching body today tell me. But most people my age will tell you … we’re still young at heart … but then again the heart is actually an internal organ that’s got the same attached age marker. We all know that a way to  slow down the aging process is by keeping your body nicely tuned by exercising. And over the years, being so busy with work leaves me little time for exercise. I guess it’s the nature of the job that by the time I get back from work, it’s usually getting dark. Since medically you shouldn’t eat dinner just before exercising and vice versa, exercising when you just get back from work doesn’t quite cut it. That leave me with the only logical conclusion of eating dinner. Morning’s aren’t any easier with me having to leave early in the mornings, just to avoid the KL crawl and get an available parking lot in the city. Nonetheless, I’m thinking something’s got to be squeezed in a little more regularly. Whatever it is, it sure looks like I’d better get a little work out regime going on soon before i physically run out of gas a little prematurely. Last weekend was a little kick start.

On a spiritual note, i was reminded of a point from 1 Timothy 4:8 “For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” Paul was not saying that bodily exercise was not important, however he was making an all important comparison that our main focus should be in exercising ourselves toward godliness, and bodily exercise pales in comparison. While the physical body will one day certainly grow old, tire and one day decay, godliness that has been cultivated has and is of inestimable eternal value.

Now, it is altogether possible to be so absorbed in one to the detriment of the other. We’re seeing more and more of that these days. There is the trend in this age to get fit and looking physically better, just look at the fitness magazines, gurus, gyms that have sprung up over the last few years. But it’s a shame if believers, follow the world’s trend to the neglect of the other. That’s an unhealthy balance. Some of us are absorbed about look and feeling great physically, but are left wanting spiritually. Also some of us are worn out spiritually with little vitality and no spring in our step. So what are we to do? I think the solution is found in a simple observation. Want to avoid being worn out physically ? Want to avoid spiritual fatigue? The answer to both … proper exercise. More importantly “… exercise thyself rather unto godliness” 1 Tim 4:7.  It’s about keeping the correct weight and balance, between physically and spiritually. We need to honor the Lord in our decision making.

I think it’s time to get in shape.