For a few years now, many of the wearers of Fitbits, Apple Watches, and other fitness tracking devices have set an arbitrary goal of 10,000 steps per day. It’s a nice round number and one which takes a real effort to achieve. The object of all this, of course, is to have a strong heart and a healthier lifestyle. But why 10,000?

“The idea of walking at least 10,000 steps a
day for health goes back decades to a marketing campaign launched in Japan to
promote a pedometer.” Hmmm… Turns out that the magic number of 10,000 was
merely an advertising ploy. It was basically plucked out of the air. No science
went into the decision. It just sounded good.

Subsequent studies have revealed some
interesting health facts. For one, the number of steps needed to promote good
health and longer life is actually around 4400. In addition, “The benefits of
walking maxed out at about 7,500 steps.” Anything above that probably only
builds up your leg muscles, I suppose.

The upside to this discovery is that lengthy gym workouts aren’t necessary for most of us. A good, light workout is all that is required. Hours spent in the gym can make you look fantastic, but they won’t make you any healthier. Imagine that.

I don’t say all this to discourage you from
your workouts or your daily goal of 10,000 steps. My guess is that you’ll be
all the better for it—somehow. But that’s where time management seems to enter
the picture. The question becomes, “Is that how you want to spend your time.”
Is there no higher calling to which you aspire?

I’m certainly no time management expert. In
fact, I seem to waste a lot of my appointed time here on this earth. But it
seems to me that each one of us is urged in Scripture to set loftier goals than
having fantastic looking bodies and longer lives (not that I’m against any of
that, mind you). I’m guessing we’re looking in the wrong places if our highest priorities
are limited to how many steps we attain.

Having said all that, I actually encourage you to continue in your quest for healthy hearts, strong bodies, and longer lives. That’s actually a good thing. I share your concern for those goals. Your body is a temple, and as a good steward of life, you should take care of it. But I would also urge you to think about the higher things—things beyond the earthly corpus in which you dwell. You not only have a physical body, you have a soul and a spirit as well. These, too, need to be kept healthy.

There’s an interesting verse in Ecclesiastes
that says, “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does
food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but
time and chance happen to them all.” Maybe we should plan our time wisely.

[Dave Zuchelli is a graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and
currently resides in Aldie, VA.]

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