Lessons from Maggie

“Like clockwork. . .”, said our daughter, “. . .Maggie will get up at 6 a.m. !”  That was what she told us last evening before they left us to watch their dog.   However with the excitement of “Grandpop’s house” it was 5 a.m., but I’m not bitter !! HA.  She loves to come here, for one, because of the next door neighbor’s dog being the same age.  So she had him up by 6ish and we neighbors chatted while the dogs romped in the back yard and wore themselves out – our plan to get back at Maggie !   So she sleeps now, wiped out from her morning workout !! Well, for a few moments anyway.

Kinda reminds me of what the apostle Paul wrote to his protege Timothy:  “But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. 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.”  (1 Tim.4:7-8).    Did you catch the negative command (“refuse”) at the start counterbalanced by the positive one (“exercise”)?  On the one hand we need to avoid getting sucked into the things which tear us down spiritually (engaging in conversations and things that are based on untruths and what you thought someone meant or said, assuming things about others with no basis in fact, tearing people down, etc.) and on the other we need to instead make sure we are building up ourself with Christlike things.   And it is a  regimen, a discipline or exercise. And its the best one, for physical exertion as good as that is for us is not near as productive as spiritual “exercise”, that kind is profitable “unto ALL things” !    It helps us here and in the life to come !!

If we are diligent to confess our sin it provides a peace and even a power we could not have through any other means. If we take care to put God’s Word in our mind it builds in us wisdom, discernment, insight the things of this old world could never show us.  If we make right choices and opt for trust not worry it strengthens our resolve and faith in the Lord and sheds the anxiety most people are ruled by. There is much to be gained from the spiritual workout we can all have every day and like Maggie, rest comes. But not the rest of a moment, which is broken by the next sight of a squirrel in the backyard. The peace of God which passes all understanding will be ours !