I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that y e present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, accept able unto God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1)
I n t h is age of mechanization and automation the multi tudes have accepted as normal new ways of life and their accompanying mores: jet travel, increased industri alization, automatic house, atomic and solar energy. The individual who WALKS to the corner grocery store is “ different.” The citizens of the United States enjoy the highest standard of -living ever known. But there is a strange paradox: while the progress in medical science during the past two decades has helped to produce a taller, heavier, better fed citizenry, there is genuine concern for the reportedly inferior state of the average individual’s physical fitness. President Eisenhower has called several conferences and formed a Youth Fitness Committee and Council to investigate this national state of muscular weakness. Just what is physical fitness? We might define it as a state or condition which permits an individual to complete successfully his daily routine without undue fatigue, and still to maintain enough vigor and stamina to enjoy leisure-time activities, and to meet any unforseen emer gencies that might arise. If this makes sense to the average citizen, dominated by his quest for material possessions and with an appetite whetted by covetousness, how much more important must it be for the Christian to maintain a sound, healthy, physically fit body. Christ spoke of His body as a temple (John 2:21). Paul continually exhorted that we glorify Christ with our bodies (I Corinthians 6:19, 20; Philippiahs 1:20). He admonished that, while the body is susceptible to mortal death, it is an integral necessity to Christian service— the throne of the human senses through which the soul and the spirit have world-consciousness and self-expres sion. The Christian who agrees that maintaining a sound, healthy, body is one essential to a conscientious Christian life, must then abstain from all harmful deterrents; alcohol, tobacco, harmful drugs, dietary gluttony, unchastity, and the like. Even more important, the Chris tian must undertake a positive, planned, intelligent pro gram of sufficient daily sleep, balanced diet, and adequate daily physical exercise. But just how should this affect the college student? Perhaps you are saying, “ I’m. a student. I don’t need any special exercise to read books and to study.” Or, “More exercise! I do all my ‘workouts’ with my gray-matter, behind my desk. Why, my most strenuous activity is brushing my teeth!” THE KING'S BUSINESS
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