Exercising......

This morning I was talking with a friend of mine while we were exercising. She was telling me how she missed how knowledgeable she was in the scriptures while she was on her mission. How she just didn't understand where that knowledge went! Then said to me, I never thought I would ever forget all that knowledge. We both knew the answer to her statement...

Here's something frustrating for me... I have worked out pretty much for the last 13 years of my life. The only time I would really take off exercising is right after the birth of my children. I remember going to the gym the day before Ellie was born. I would have gone the day she was born, but we needed to be at the hospital so early! So long story longer, I haven't worked out consistently since I ran the Ragnar Race in June. One would think, I have worked out for 13 years, I can take some months off and be fine! Well that isn't how it works. Those who work out consistently can feel a difference when they take even a couple of days off. You can build up a little reserve, but not much! It has been so hard for me to get back into working out. I never thought it would be this difficult. I love to exercise. I have always made time for it in my life. I know the benefits to working out. I know I feel better and look better when I am exercising! So why is it so hard for me to start back up?

This brings me back to the conversation I had this morning with my friend. Scripture studying is just like exercising in so many ways! But the most important similarity is the consistency of doing it every day. There may come times in our lives when life will get insane and scripture study will go by the way side. Or we may feel there are more important areas in our life that need more attention. But just like exercising, even going a couple of days without studying the scriptures, we feel the difference in ourselves. And the longer we go with studying, the harder it is going to be to get back into the habit. Just like the children of Israel receiving manna from heaven. The manna only lasted for one day (except for the day before the Sabbath). They could not build up a storage of manna for the week they were going on vacation or when they didn't want to go out and collect. Every day the children of Israel would have to do the work to be fed from the Lord. Every day we have the same opportunity to be fed from the Lord. the question is: are we willing to do the work? We were not put on this earth to have an easy life. We are here to prove to the Lord that we choose Him first, no matter the challenges, no matter the ease of life.