5 Lessons the Gym Teaches About Bible Study

The Necessary work of strength & conditioning training

I’ve never been athletic. I tripped in Zumba, fell in yoga class, and resembled a sinking ship in the lap pool. Excercising was hard and not fun. Consequently, I didn’t prioritize going to the gym or getting a good workout. I went when it was convenient and trudged through.

But after my spinal cord injury, going to the gym regularly became a top priority. I work 1-on-1 with a coach to do strength and conditioning exercises three days a week. I might miss a session if I’m out of town or if I’m sick, but I notice the effect immediately. My legs get weaker, more wobbly, when I miss a gym appointment.

My work-outs include a warm-up, mobility stretches, modified versions of the four main weightlifting movements (squat, hinge, push, pull), and a cardio component. When I began, I couldn’t do any of those movements with weight. Ha, I could only do two of them with body-weight alone! Today, I do some version of all four movements and most of them I do with added weight. It’s crazy how much movement my body has regained after being paralyzed. Sometimes, I just stop in the middle of a workout to laugh! “Remember when I couldn’t bend this leg?!” 

My coaches gave me this sticker which shows how well they know me. In my life before spinal cord injury, that sticker was 100% true. More books, please! 

But, now, it’s much more serious than that. I don’t lift weights to carry more books. I lift weights to carry my body on two weak legs. On a good day, I can carry a hot latte too.

I go to the gym and do my exercises to keep moving. Literally. If I don’t go, I move backward in my ability to walk. It’s either go and move forward or don’t go and move backward. There is no neutral. 

The day I realized that, I realized something far more important.

The Necessary work of bible Reading

I know, and you know, we should read the Bible every day.

Because, in the same way exercise strengthens our bodies, Bible reading strengthens our faith. Both are necessary for physical and spiritual health.

There are seasons in which I read my Bible regularly and it feels great. I connect with God through his Word in an oh-so-satisifying way. At other times, I read and feel nothing and wonder what’s wrong with me.

Then, the option to read was taken away. When my body failed me and I spent weeks in the hospital heavily sedated, no Bible reading was done. Worship music was listened to. Prayers were said. But I didn’t read the Bible. In fact, I’m pretty sure if you had put a Bible in front of me, the words would have blurred, even with my glasses on. 

When I held tightly to a "read your Bible every day" rule, what happened when I couldn’t? I shook me. What are we to do when we can’t or don’t want to read the Bible regularly?

This is where the gym comes in. The lessons I learned in the gym taught how to think about regular Bible reading and how to proceed when I can’t. Here’s what I learned.

1. Find your why 

There is no Bible reading rule. You won’t find that command in any of the 66 books of the Bible. Just drop that self-imposed rigidity completely. 

And, while we’re at it, let’s toss the guilt too. Let the beautiful promise of Romans 8:1 play on repeat in your head, "There is therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Jesus does not keep a record of your daily Bible reading. He’s not interested in it. He’s interested in your heart. Do you want to regularly be with him through his written Word? If the answer is yes, be assured, he wants to be with you! Your desire is aligned with his heart and he will enable you to do it.

This is the first gift the gym taught me about Bible study. I never wanted to go to the gym, not until I understood how it impacted my daily life. Once I realized going to the gym regularly (or not going) directly affected my ability to walk, which I deeply desire to keep, I began to desire to go to the gym. This was my why.

When we learn the impact that being in God’s Word has on our moment-by-moment life, it changes our desire. Why? Because we want it more relationship with God. More help in time of need. More opportunities to praise his name. More peace. More strength. We want more Jesus! 

If you want to want more, pray for God’s help to desire to be with him in his Word. He is not deaf to your prayers. (Like the father in Mark 9:24 who said, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief," we can pray "Help me to want to want you more.")

We read the Bible to keep our priorities and desires in the right order.

2. Claim a Ten Minute Day. 

This is the second gift the gym taught me about Bible study. 

On a good day, I can do my entire workout as written. All the reps. All the sets. I might even be able to increase a weight or two. I leave sweaty and satisfied that I was able to push my body and it didn’t fail me. If feels good. But good days are not the norm. 

Most days, I’m dragging my body into the gym. On these days, my coach reduces reps, sets, and weights. I still get a good workout and I still leave sweaty and tired. But it’s less satisfying.

Sometimes, I’ll have a bad day. On those days, I consider my fall risk to be high and I feel like climbing back in bed, not going to the gym. On those days, my coach encourages me to come to the gym anyway. We don’t even focus on the workout as written. We focus on getting through ten minutes.

He’ll have me do a light warm-up and some stretches. We might end there. Or we might do one or two arm exercises while sitting. The important thing is to keep moving my body. Keep the rhythm of going to the gym as scheduled. I call those days my "Ten Minute Days."

After ten minutes of moving, if I still feel like I can’t go on, I give myself permission to stop. Usually, though, after ten minutes my body finds a little more energy and I can do a little bit more. That’s the magic of ten minutes.

Now, on days when Brain Fog is real and Bible reading feels impossible, I claim it to be a "Ten Minute Day." I read for ten minutes and allow myself to see how it goes. Maybe I’ll focus on just one verse. Maybe I’ll read a devotional and meditate on the verse or challenge given. Maybe I’ll listen to an audio Bible or Bible reading podcast like this one or this one. (This is not my favorite method since I’m a visual learner, but it’s still engaging with the Word. Yay.)

The gift here is grace. We honor our God-given desire to be with him when we spend even just ten lackluster minutes in his Word. 

We read the Bible to invest in our relationship with God.

3. Recognize the danger of complacency

There is no neutral. Being complacent about physical exercise is dangerous. A weak musculoskeletal system is prone to injury. A weak cardiovascular system is prone to illness. I must keep moving my body under a safe amount of stress (ie. weights) to build and keep the strength I have. I don’t have much, so I’m vigilant about keeping what little I have.

When we read the Bible regularly, we are nourishing our spiritual health. We engage with God through his written revelation of himself. The more we know about God, his character and promises, the better able we are to walk through this life, which isn’t always easy. But even here, there is no neutral. We can’t become complacent in our walk with God. 

Hebrews 2:1 is clear about this: "Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it." When we don’t read the Bible regularly, it becomes easier to drift away from God—we become more and more self-sufficient, ignoring (even denying) our dependence on Him. We are pitifully able to handle day-to-day challenges, but he is more than able! When we rely on his strength each day, we can endure trials and exalt God. 

We read the Bible to avoid moving backward in our faith. 

4. Believe that little bits add up

Through the grace of God, my body is getting stronger through regular exercise. Even though my exercises are light, they are having a positive impact in my ability to walk. Regular workouts keep me moving forward.

Our small bits of Bible reading add up too. Yes, we glean deep truth through deep study, but that doesn’t mean we glean nothing through light reading. Every minute spent with God in his Word is a minute spent with the One who loves us most and best. It’s a minute invested in our relationship with God. 

Tim Challies says, "Reading and rereading the Bible gives us breadth of knowledge, while studying and pondering it gives us depth of understanding. Neither is superior to the other." It is good for us to read the Bible every day, however we do it. This is one of the places in which the motto "Just do it" seems to fit perfectly.

We read the Bible to keep moving forward in our faith.

5. Embrace the cost

Where we spend our time and money shows what we value most. Believe me when I say, working 1-on-1 with a coach three days a week is not cheap. But in many ways, it is priceless. My coach knows much, much more than I do about how to push my body safely. Without my coach, I’d chose the wrong exercises, make little progress in the gym, and probably get hurt.

It will cost us time and effort to sit and read the Bible everday. We could be doing dishes, working, or. . . this one hurts. . . sleeping. But it is worth the cost! Glenna Marshall, in Everyday Faithfulness put it this way: “Even small actions of everyday faithfulness will cost us something. Yet the rewards of nearness to Christ are immeasurably more valuable than anything we must remove.”

God, through his written Word and the indwelling Holy Spirit, guides us like the perfect coach. He gives us the strength we need to face whatever will come our way. In Revelation 2:17, Jesus calls himself the "hidden manna," the nourishment we need for today. Every day. 

We read the Bible for the grace and strength we need each day.

The Challenge

How does dropping guilt, giving yourself grace, fighting complacency, doing what you can do, and embracing the cost change your view of daily Bible reading?

How much do you desire to engage with God in his Word? If you desire more than you think you are able, take your desire to God in prayer today. Watch to see how he enables you to move forward.

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