I know that a lot of people cringe when  you start to discuss exercise and its benefits with them but I believe from my experience with working with heart and lung patients it is the single most important thing that we can do for ourselves to maintain our ability to function as we get older.  I once was attending a women’s health event at a local church when I was discussing with a young woman about exercise.  She said her biggest problem was that she did not have an accountability partner for her exercise and she found it difficult to keep herself motivated to continue with her exercise program.  I responded to that with, make God your accountability partner,because He is always with  you and if you exercise to keep His temple ready for your mission you are doing it to glorify Him.  When I go to gym in the morning before work I listen to Christian  music and spend my time strengthening my body, as well as my mind, and my spirit.  Exercise should be done on a regular basis in order for it to be most effective.  We should try to accumulate 180-210 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week to get the best benefit.  High intensity  exercise does not reap greater benefits and increases your risk of complications during your exercise sessions.  The old theory of no pain no gain is not a good way to look at your exercise program.  The pain you experience after exercise is a sign that you have released toxic substances into your muscles that may take days for your body to rid yourself of.  I do believe that you should feel like your exerting yourself and you may have some discomfort if you are not used to it. We should be able to work the day after a workout and if we are so sore we cant sit down on the toilet that is not what we should aim for, if we are trying to improve our health and look for the best benefits of our program.  Work on your duration first then you can increase your intensity.  Set your goals using time and intensity as a tool such as a 30 minute at a pace that I get a little breathy but I can still talk while I walk.  Make sure that you drink plenty of water to stay hydrated before, during, and after exercise.  Unless you are sweating profusely the best beverage to rehydrate is water because that is what we are made of.  Some of the main reasons that I hear from people why they do not have an exercise program is that they do not have enough time and they are too tired.  My response to these excuses are that we all have 24 hours in a day and we can decide how we use those 24 hours. An effective exercise program only requires 30 minutes a day most days of the week to make an impact on our health. Is our health not worth that?  If we don’t invest the time now we will end up investing more money later to try to regain what we have lost.  This year lets try beginning our exercise program with a different attitude and not do it in the flesh but let the Holy Spirit guide us and make this a part of daily worship to take care of the Temple of the Lord.