MARKS Audrey Marks, Guest Editor
On December 31, 2006, I stepped off the scale, feeling very satisfied with my progress; four pounds per month lost over the last three months! I felt rewarded for my diligence. At the start of the year, I had grudgingly acknowledged that I was overweight and could no longer blame 'baby fat'. Somehow, it had become so difficult to get back to the right diet and exercise routine.
It was so difficult to manage getting up at even 6:00 a.m., usually from a shortened sleep, interrupted several times by the demands of a young baby. It was now April, another birthday was coming around.I am now feeling desperate to get on track - then I got a call - my friend Lisa had arranged with another friend, Janet, to start walking at 5:00 in the mornings. She offered to pick me up at 4.45 a.m. my initial impulse was to hang up the phone on my crazy friend, something inside told me that as impossible as waking up at 4.30 a.m. seems, this just may be the catalyst I need to jump-start my fitness programme.
It was! Over the next nine months, I transitioned from an enjoyable morning walk with my friends to a strength training programme, to joining a gym - and the impossible happened! I became a morning person, with the ability to wake up, get out and enjoy the break of dawn.
There is something about seeing the sunrise. It touches somewhere deep inside; the majesty of God's creation is evident in those still morning hours before the distractions of the world take over. Equal to my desire for physical fitness, I now had a desire to feel a direct connection with the Creator of all this magnificence who had also created me.
"Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore, get wisdom; and with all thy getting, get understanding" - Proverbs 4:7. Hence, I started my quest for that deeper connection that the world doesn't cater to. Of all the creatures God created, man is the only one capable of living in two dimensions simultaneously. That is why we are human beings. The first dimension is natural or in the earth realm, and the other dimension is in the realm of the spirit or the eternal. This powerful phenomenon is possible because man is a spirit with a soul, living in a physical body!
Our power comes from our strong inner being, representing the spirit. Our body, in the realm of the flesh, through our five senses, takes up most of our time and attention; we spend time on our hair, our nails, our body, the spa, the gym, TV, parties, work, parenting, shopping and gossiping.
Spiritual Health
The key to walking in power and victory in this world is to be fed by the spirit. This requires spiritual health. In the same way we focus on physical health and social involvement, we now have to focus on getting fit spiritually, strengthening our inner man, maintaining our divine connection to the source of all power.
To strengthen the spirit, we therefore need to spend time in communion with God, quiet times of meditation, reading His word, time of fasting and prayer, praise and worship and times of absolute stillness and submission of the mind and body before our Creator.
I started this new year with a focus on a regular routine with my physical fitness programme. Now I strive to attain spiritual fitness. Unbelievable, I cannot believe making time for God is even more difficult than getting back to a proper diet and exercise programme.
