The Vanity of Exercise

This past Sunday our youth pastor was teaching us about how stupid it is to worry when God has promised to care for all of our needs. You can listen to that greatness here. He mentioned Psalm 90:10 which reads:

10 The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span [1] is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.

He also pointed out that all of our worrying about our life has yield an average age of death of 76 years! So, assuming that we use 70 years for an average length of life at the time of David's writing of this Psalm and if we assume it was written about the year 1000 BC, we can find the rate at which our life is increasing. Life expectancy has skyrocketed 6 years in the last 3000 years! That translates into 2 more years of life in every millennium!

I suppose we cannot relate to the actual length of time in 1000 years. So, let me translate this into something more understandable. All of our exercising gives us 17 hours 31 minutes and 12 seconds of more life every year! That is 2 minutes and 53 seconds of more life every day! Now this is ironic! A person will work out for 30 - 60 minutes multiple times per week in order to gain 2 minutes and 53 seconds more of life per day? What is wrong with this picture?

So the average human being will gain 55 days, 11 hours, 31 minutes, and 12 seconds of life over an average lifespan if they exercise everyday. If it were up to me, I would just die early.

Now, I must give some perspective here. First of all, I am talking about longevity of life, not quality of life. Exercising definitely makes you feel better. Although, if your motivation for exercise is to live longer you may now be quite discouraged. Of course, God decides when we die so it really is a moot point.

Second, this does not take into account any other technological advantages that may lend to this life extension.

Third, exercise is also a stewardship issue. We must take care of the bodies God has so graciously given us. So, from that perspective, exercise in not in vain.

Fourth, answering a question posed earlier, the problem with this picture is sin. Not only does sin KILL, it makes the possibility we have of reversing its affects, that is saving ourselves from death, diminish all of the way to zero!! We have no hope of beating sin and surviving death apart from Christ!

While Christ is the answer to longevity of life, He is also the only Source to quality of life! He alone provides joy, the highest quality of life, because He is the source of Joy! While exercise makes you feel better, Christ actually makes you better. Exercise is deceptive, I guess, but it is beneficial.

Keeping this in mind, let us exercise to the glory of God, trusting His grace to make it valuable.