A daily dose of exercise will help maintain overall health, according to a study done by researchers at the University of Bath in England. 26 healthy young men were split into two groups, half did a daily spot of exercise and the other half did nothing. Both groups were encouraged to overeat and remain otherwise sedentary.

After one week, the non-exercisers began to develop blood sugar instability and other symptoms of slowed metabolism and increased fat storage. The exercisers, on the other hand, maintained stable blood sugar levels and suffered none of the dangerous trends of the first group. Exercise, even with an imperfect diet seems to have a protective effect on the body (Gretchen Reynolds, “The Power of a Daily Bout of Exercise,” Well.Blogs.NYTimes.com, November 27, 2013).

The apostle Paul makes an interesting comment about exercise, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things…,” (1 Timothy 4:8, NKJV). Clearly, God created His children to be physically active.

Although, bodily exercise can’t compare with exercising faith in the true God of the Bible, it can benefit us quite a bit physically. That little bit of activity can make a difference in our energy levels for serving God. 

Not everyone can exercise at the same intensity, but research such as this illustrates that whatever we are able to do can be a great benefit.