To exercise or not to exercise is a question of costs. There are always more reasons not to than to endure the sacrifice and get it done. Yet, the point of exercise is to avoid future sacrifices. It’s never about the weather, schedule, or lack of a decent trail system. It’s about the future. Exercising is the cost of sending a gift to our future selves, and to those who accompany us there. 

The same is true for the Christian life. It’s not just about the boundaries, sacrifices, or cultural challenges of following Jesus Christ. Things like denying myself, loving my enemies, or even martyrdom if it comes to that. It’s about becoming the kind of person who gets to know and love the Creator, along with those He created. 

Health and Faith both call for concessions to the future. Weathering sacrifices today that will yield greater good tomorrow. Modifying boundaries for the sake of love, investing in tomorrow rather than spending it all right now. Even surrendering the last two seats because it blesses the weary Mom and her whimpering child with the gift of sleeping in their own beds tonight.

Much of life is a contest between spending and investing, and it’s good to be aware of it. How else would we remember every single day that God chose investing? That He asked His own Son, Jesus Christ, to endure a tortuous death (and to be estranged from His Father for the first time in Eternity) to pay the penalty for our sinfulness?

One day, when we’re face to face with the One who created us (along with the entire Universe), we’ll get to thank Him face-to-face. There’s no investment anywhere with a greater return than that.