I saw the accompanying photo on my Facebook page not long
ago. It was accompanied by a note saying
something to the effect of, “If you don’t move once in awhile, you become a
permanent fixture.”
That’s true, of course.
Just as this old combine has become a permanent fixture in this grove of
trees and undergrowth, we too can become permanent fixtures in places and ways
we really don’t wish to become. And when
that happens, it takes something akin to a chain saw to get us loosened from
the pickle we’ve gotten ourselves into.
(I know I ended with a preposition…it fits in the sentence.)
Movement needs to be physical, yes. But movement also needs to be mental,
emotional, and spiritual. We are complex
beings, made up of all of those parts.
All of those parts have to be exercised from time to time in order to
not become sluggish or worse.
We need to read. We
need to be aware of the world around us.
We need to continue to learn, be inquisitive, to challenge our long-held
beliefs, and marvel at the creation. We
also need to interact with others in positive ways, continue to develop those
relationships, and be a productive part of society. And we need to continue in our quest for not
only knowledge of the God who made us, but to actually become more and more
like the perfect example we find in the God-Man Jesus Christ.
It’s only because we keep our physical, mental, emotional,
and spiritual selves exercised and moving that we keep ourselves healthy. Paul the great apostle said it well when he
said, “I do not regard myself as having
laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and
reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize
of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Paul wasn’t content with where he was and who he was. He wasn’t content being “good enough.” He continued to “press on” even in his older
age toward the goal. And we should
emulate him as we go through our own life’s time line.
We don’t know how much time we have left. We do know that we need to make the most of
the time that has been given to us, and “redeem the time” in ways that are
productive and proper and appropriate.
To sit still is to become a permanent fixture, tied up in
ways that we don’t like and can’t get away from on our own. Life is movement. Life is activity. Life is energy. Live it to the full.
