This post was inspired by two things... one, the excellent message given today at church and two, the perspiration I was losing when I went to the gym directly after the service. As I was exercising I could not get the message out of my mind and then it hit me how there is a parallel between bodily exercise and spiritual exercise.
As I was exercising, my body was ridding itself of contaminates and impurities (i.e. sweat). The body does this as a means to get rid of the bad in us and in the process we get the side benefit of being cooled down. This is also what is happening when we exercise our faith by worship, prayer, and reading the Bible. Those of us who have trusted Christ as their Savior have two natures in us... the old Adamic nature (named after Adam) and the new Spiritual Nature (named for the Holy Spirit). Anytime two things try to inhabit one body there is going to be conflict, and a lot of it. Metaphorically, the example used many times is that we have two dogs in us, a good dog and a bad dog. The one we feed is the one that grows. But it is not only feeding the dog, but nurturing the dog, spending time with the dog, and giving top priority to the dog that determines which dog prevails. When any of these is given to one dog, it is automatically taken away from the other dog.
The scripture reference used in the message today is from Romans 7:15-25
15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
The Apostle Paul, arguably the most obedient person who ever lived and writer of 2/3 of the New Testament struggled with this very thing himself. No matter how much we think we can win this battle in our own strength, we can not. If we think we can, than we are fooling ourselves. The best liar we all know is ourselves... if you don't believe me, then you just proved my point. On the surface this sounds like a no win situation. Many Christians "cop out" and just say they can't help thinking certain thoughts, or doing certain deeds, but that is a cop out. We can help it... just not on our own. We need God's power to overcome our sinful nature and have the "Good Dog", if you will, reign in us. So, how do we do this. There are several ways but I want to focus on three:
1) Getting serious about our faith and spending quality time in the presence of God.
Going back to the physical example of exercising our bodies, if we do not spend the time in the gym or on our own putting our bodies in motion and exercising them, then we will not be victorious in that area and there will be no change in our bodies. And so it is with our Christian walk. We have to make the conscious decision to give God Priority 1 in our daily lives. We can't just fit God into our schedule... we must fit our schedule around God. For a newer believer or someone not as strong in the faith, I would suggest setting aside at least 15 minutes (don't call Geico, instead call out to God). Pray to God or open the Bible and ask God to speak to you through His Word. If you don't even know where to begin reading, pick a Proverb. There are 31 Proverbs so just pick the one that corresponds to that particular day of the month.
2) I know this will seem impossible and unrealistic, but as you slowly begin to spend more time with God, slowly begin to spend less time with the "world".
When I say the world I mean the world's influence such as TV, rock music, the Internet, sports, etc... basically anything that the world thinks is important, but only keeps you from becoming closer to God. I am not saying any of these are bad on their own, but if they take priority in your life over God, they are an "idol" and they are wrong. The Bible says we are to be "in the world, not of it".
3) If you don't already have some, choose Godly friends to spend your time with. See Proverbs 17:17 and 18:24.
Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity."
Proverbs 18:24 "One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."
You can see that the Bible has plenty to say about who we should be friends with and who we should avoid. A true friend is someone who makes you a better person by knowing them and by being in their presence. A true friend shares your joys as well as your sorrows and is also not afraid to keep you accountable for your words and actions.
We can not go through this Christian walk alone; we need each other. An isolated Christian is a paralyzed Christian. God never intended for us to go it alone. It is why He gave a man a wife and it is why Jesus sent his disciples out 2 by 2. Even Jesus chose not to go it alone, He had his 12 disciples.
This is just an introductory scratching of the surface, but I believe if we will begin to do these three things, then just like our bodies will have a noticeable change in them from exercising, so will our lifestyle. Perhaps then we can make Satan "The Biggest Loser".
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