Are you in shape?
P90X is a strict, intense 90-day workout program designed to get you in the “best shape of your life” (or so they say in their ads). In order to combat the tolls of a lifetime of food-on-the-run, lack of dedicated time for exercise, and just outright physical laziness, I decided to enroll in my local YMCA’s version of P90X.
The trainer that leads the class attends TLC and he’s been a great help in keeping me accountable and focused. That support is something we all need in every area of our life! In regards to me getting “fit”, it makes all the difference because I know if I just relied on my own willpower, I might quit within two weeks!
Now, I’m not grossly overweight or anything… I just want to “tone up”. Isn’t this a lot like many people we know and their spiritual condition? Most of us don’t ever commit any “grave sins” (let’s say: murder, rape, robbery, etc.), yet we’re still “out of shape”!
Plenty of folks are completely “overweight” and are coming ever closer to reaching the obesity of the soul. We’ve loaded up on sin (just like junk food!) for so long that we don’t think we can get where we need to be (in good health).
Thank God for His mercy and grace that He doesn’t give up on us! In fact, He makes it much easier to get “in shape” (holiness) than by any other means. How? By the work of the cross!
Imagine enrolling in P90X like I have… you’re toiling every day, going “by the book”, yet you’re still not there! The results you want aren’t happening. This is a lot like the Jews of the Old Testament. Living by “the law” yet they couldn’t bridge the gap between them and God because of the enormity of sin! This would be like trying to lose weight, but you weight 800 lbs. and look like one of those stories on Discovery Health (where they have to cut a section out of your house to get you out!).
But with Jesus Christ, we have a much better path to righteousness. He did all the heavy lifting! However, we can’t stop exercising and forego a sense of discipline just because of what Jesus did! (In fact, it’s the opposite!)
The Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Paul uses this “race” reference again later in Philippians 3:13-14:
“No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us.”
We still “run the race” because our reward is greater than anything we can get on our own! Our discipline comes not out of wanting to win the race, but it’s the result of knowing the race has been won by someone who’s at a level of “fitness” we could never obtain! Yet, this winner is right there by our side training us to get to His level! We aren’t running on our own, but God is right there with us for support! (much like a personal trainer) Temptations and obstacles we faced before, suddenly become a lot easier to handle!
All of the things we do in our faith journey are not for nothing… God sees our hard work and dedication and says “Well done!”. It’s when we’re spiritually lazy and irresponsible that He wants nothing to do with us! (Read the parable of the talents in Matthew 25)
I’m looking forward to being done with P90X, but I’m not stopping there! I keep going, running the race and perfecting myself. The reward will be great and well-worth my efforts. To “give up” and quit before the results are realized, just because we’re a little sore, makes it all a huge waste of time and money.
That’s why we can’t give up on the Lord either… while the enemy may frustrate us to point of avoiding God at every turn (church, fellowship, personal devotions and prayers), we have to fight past that feeling to quit and instead push through!
God loves this kind of stuff… hard work, dedication, commitment. Possibly it’s due to the fact that He shows all of those things towards us! (He never fails us!) It all comes as a result of a loving relationship between Him and His children. We’re most devoted to those we love!
So do an self-assessment right now: Are you “in shape” spiritually? Or do you need to change a few things that may require some hard work? If you’re “out of shape”, then ask yourself, why are you ignoring the very thing that will get you where you need to be? That is, connecting with the One who loves you and has given you a way to obtain a “body” better than you could ever have gotten on your own!
On a side note… my shoulders are feeling pretty rough today!
