I just read a great little article by Real Simple Magazine entitled, “15 Ways To Get More Fit.” They gave great ideas to keep exercise a part of your daily routine. Curious? Here are a few of their suggestions:
- Exercise in quick spurts. A new study has found that people who did just four to six 30-second sprints reaped the same heart-health benefits as those who logged a moderate 40- to 60-minute workout. Two ways to get your heart racing: Jump rope for three minutes, or sprint to and from the mailbox three times (ignore the neighbors’ curious looks). If you live in an urban area, sprint blocks sporadically (just pretend you’re running for the bus).
- Make your home a fitter place. To help you flex your muscles more often, leave a set of dumbbells near your microwave and do curls while heating up dinner. Hang a resistance band on the bathroom doorknob and strength-train while the tub fills up.
- Inconvenience yourself. Instead of always doing things the easy or fast way (standing on escalators, using valet parking), rethink the services that curb your activity level. Even tiny changes can make a difference. So don’t have someone else run upstairs to grab your sweater, for example; fetch it yourself.
- Don’t let travel derail you. Instead of returning from vacation feeling flabby, plan a week filled with hiking, biking, walking, or an activity you’ll train for.
Tip: Have a friend meet you at the gym to help keep you accountable.
We could use these strategies to stay fit spiritually and aid our memorization of Scripture. How about:
- Memorize in quick spurts. Work on a memory verse while driving, walking, or sitting waiting for an appointment. Write the verse on a card so you can go over it quickly throughout the day.
- Make your home a place for memorization. Write the verse on the bathroom mirror in dry erase marker so you can review it while drying your hair or brushing your teeth. Keep a card at the sink where you wash dishes.
- Inconvenience Yourself. Instead of memorizing just a single verse, work on a passage, several verses from a chapter, or the whole chapter. Take one verse at a time!
- Don’t let travel derail you. If you keep your verses in a small notebook you can take it with you so you can continue to review the verses on the plane, at the motel, at the oceanfront (take me with you!). Don’t let vacation make you flabby spiritually!
Tip: Have a friend keep you accountable. Say your verses to someone else at church or in your home.
Like physical exercise, spiritual exercise such as Scripture memorization takes planning and discipline, but these tips can help each of us get fit!
RefreshHer 