It Won’t Come Naturally!

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at a restaurant with my wife and the waiter ask me where I work out.  My wife usually chuckles a little bit because she knows I never work out and what that tells me is that you can’t always go by the way someone looks to know if they are in shape or not.  I’m all for being physically fit and in shape, but I know it takes a lot of discipline, desire, endurance, effort, and consistency to stay in shape.  And what is true physically in this regard is also true spiritually.  So think about it, you will never stay in good spiritual shape without a desire to do so.  You will never naturally stay in shape spiritually.  Just like with your physical body, unless you intentionally make the effort and put in the work  you will decline spiritually.

If you want to be in good physical shape, you’ve got to make yourself get to the gym.  If you want to be in good spiritual shape, you’ve got to make yourself get to church.  If you want to be physically fit, you’ve got to make yourself eat right.  If you want to be spiritually fit, you’ve got to make yourself eat from God’s word.  (Matthew 4:4). If you want to be in shape physically, you can’t just go to the gym and stare at yourself in the mirrors, you’ve got to pick up some weights and get on the treadmill.  If you want to be in shape spiritually, you can’t just go to church, you’ve got to apply and practice the truths of God’s word. If you want to be physically fit you should talk to a fitness expert for guidance and direction.  And if you want to be spiritually fit, you need to talk to God in prayer.  Think about it, to be in shape and to stay in shape, there are no shortcuts, you’ve got to take the time and make the effort to make it happen, and once you start seeing the results, it just supplies the drive to keep doing what you’ve been doing.

Here’s my point, no one naturally stays in spiritual shape and those who do, constantly work at it.  Believe this word today!

Philippians 2:12-13 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for [His] good pleasure.”

How many people today have wasted their gym membership?  Untold numbers, and I would be included in that statistic, but I’m not going to waste my membership as a child of God.  I will put in the time, even when I don’t feel like it.  Will you join me?

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