I’m not a guy who likes to promote my life, but for this
blog I have to slightly to give context to the story. Recently I have been
working out more regularly than I have in the past few years. This past week
alone I ran roughly 5 out of the 7 days. After all, I am getting married this
summer to and amazing and Godly woman. Anyone getting married could tell ya,
they have a slight desire to look their best for such a special day. I’m no
different. Further, anyone who has wants to slim down will do some crazy things
in order to lose the weight. Now I’m not a person who would ever do anything
unhealthy to lose weight, but I do take tips from time to time about how to
lose some stomach fat.
I realized something the other day while I was praying
earlier today, God showed me something in a new perspective. I was at the gym
earlier this week and there was an older gentleman doing an intense ab workout.
It’s super hard to explain, but I can tell you that after seeing him do this
workout and seeing the results it had on him, I instantly tried it out. “How
was it,” you ask! All I can say is ouch. I’ve been hurting all week even when I
do the workout again, it still leaves me sore. That’s the funny thing about
working out though, it hurts sometimes. Sometimes, it can seem to be harder
than you anticipate, and the struggle can make you want to quit, but any
regular person who works out can tell you that when you push through the pain
and struggle it’s all worth it when you see the results.
“Okay Bryan, nice story. I thought this was a devotional
blog?” Check this out… God blew my mind with two different avenues today.
#1 Our faith journey is like an extended workout. We should
never think of our faith as those twenty-minute “best abs you can have”
workouts. It’s a series of daily workouts that help you gain stamina and
endurance as you grow. Yeah certain muscles can be sculpted quicker than
others, sometimes the workout for a day, or two days, or even weeks can feel
awkward and super hard… but just like working out, you’ll gain spiritual muscle
that will help sustain you during that time.
“4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy
5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on
to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:4-6
“1 Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of
witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so
easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2
keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the
joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down
at the right hand of God’s throne.” Hebrews 12:1-2
Both of these passages show that faith is a process and
persistence is necessary. Further, they also so our dependency upon Jesus, our
perfecter and originator of our faith! We are in this life still, we still
struggle with sin, and we still have a lot of work ahead of us. But with the
end means in mind, similar to the workouts we do, it’s all worth it!
#2 This guy at the gym not once speak with me. Not once did
he come and show me how to do his workout. Not once did he ask if I wanted his
help. He just went through his regular routine of his workout. He didn’t care
who was watching, didn’t care how much pain he looked like he was in, didn’t
know he was impacting my workout plan, and didn’t anticipate being this
example. Check this out, it was through his persistence in his own workout plan
that he impacted me. Moreover, I was telling a friend this guy’s workout for
abs and how it really was a good workout when I did it, and she looked at me
and said he had already been doing that because she saw the same guy doing it,
and also saw the results it produced on him. You see, TALK IS CHEAP. But his actions spoke far greater
than his words. In one week I found that a man impacted two peoples workout
plans by simply working on himself.
You see there is a world of people who think that the
Christian lifestyle isn’t worth it.
It would have been one thing if this guy told me the workout, or pulled
out a paper showing me the workout, but instead he just did what he knew he
needed to do! Now the paper he could have given me could have shown me the
proper form, and his words could have be very helpful, but watching him do it
sucked me right into it!
“2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts,
known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the
result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living
God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” 2 Corinthians
3:2-3
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who
called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9
We should aim to be the living version of the Gospel. What
if you are the only Gospel somebody ever reads? He lived it!
Are you aiming for a speed workout or the extended daily
routine?
Are you a living example of the faith you claim to have?
Be blessed Beloved
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