As I worked on my routine for this life season, the CDC suggested, “Physical activity is anything that gets your body moving. Each week adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and 2 days of muscle-strengthening activity.”[1] While working outside the house, step-o-meter apps were helpful; now, it’s not the number of steps but the time I plan.
My current “reading” Bible, the TimeLine New Testament, steps and times took on an extra meaning.
Here is an example of what I am referring to:
Summer, AD 47
Acts 13:13, 14: “Then Paul and his party set sail from Paphos and crossed over to Perga in Pamphylia.”
{Paphos to Perga: 224 miles, 31 days by boat}
“Here John [Mark] separated from them and returned to Jerusalem, but they went on from Perga and arrived at Antioch in Pisidia.”
{Perga to Antioch: 100 miles and a climb in altitude of 4,000 feet along the most dangerous route in the known world, probably took 6-10 days hiking}[2]
Hoffman inserts those times and “steps” throughout his translation, like Jesus’ baptism, from Nazareth to the Jordan River: 30 miles, 1 ½ days walking.[3]
Those insertions added to the reality of early church ministry and the practice of those who shared the gospel. Without a doubt, they got their steps in 😊.
It made me think of the relationships forged along the way. Today, a 100-mile trek in a car consumes 2 hours to chat compared to conversations over a day and a half of walking a couple of millennia ago. That doesn’t imply we can have great discussions on short road trips; I think you understand my thought.
However, one time is constant between the New Testament and today regarding relationships. And that is time spent in prayer—an hour then equals an hour now. We don’t have to be in the Garden of Gethsemane for Jesus to ask if we couldn’t tarry for an hour.
The challenge is not to allow the speed of life today to prohibit us from getting in our prayer “steps.” We can let time drive us, get in the car, race through our devotions, or walk our prayer paths and enjoy the journey.
Maybe I need to correct my routine from prayer “time” to prayer “steps,” knowing I will stop along the way and give more to the conversation!
[1] https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm
[2] Hoffman, Leonard R.. The Time Line New Testament Bible (2022) (Leather Look with Gold Foil Imprint and Gold Foil Pages) (Ribbon Marker) (Words of Christ in Red) (Full Color Interior and Maps) (pp. 401-402). Destiny Image, Inc. Kindle Edition.
[3] IBID, page 55.