Getting a massage is considered quite a treat.
However, a travel host on a cable television show found out otherwise. The gimmick in the show was the host didn’t get to pick his destinations. He received text messages letting him know the plans for the day. Many times they were designed to amuse the television-watching audience, not make for a pleasurable experience.
The host’s massage? It involved fire, heated stones, and burning gel wiped across towels covering his skin. He didn’t consider his massage much of a treat.
Yet, when we are pounded, rubbed, and forced to submit to the masseur’s knowledgeable hands, once the misery is over, we will actually feel refreshed, more alive, and filled with renewed vigor. It’s the discomfort that takes us there, not the soft pad we lie on when we enter the room.
Our Christian walk is designed to be a spiritual massage. We read Jesus’ massage warning in Matthew 10:22:
“And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
Our walk with him isn’t about sweet tea and orange slices. It’s not about admiring a tropical sunset. Rather, it’s about getting in shape to run the race that takes us to the finish line.
How do Thai fighters prepare to enter the ring? They crawl on a table, and they are pummeled by their trainers. Sure, call it a massage, but they are pummeled nonetheless. The pressure of their trainer’s fist is what enables them to compete in the battle.
2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Here’s another way to look at our walk with Christ. It’s a recycling process, and like our plastics or aluminum cans, we must be torn, shredded, heated, and reformed into the perfection Jesus showed us. If we refuse to face the fires, we’ll remain a dirty old container, still stained with the ravages of sin.
We have to let Christ remake us for the long haul.
Let’s line up for our spiritual massage today!
When we team up with Jesus, we have to be prepared to withstand the battle against sin.
Copyright © 2015 MyChurchNotes.net
Code: FGO.D.10.15.vp.esv