Some weights are too great for us to carry.
One method of physical training is to strap heavy sandbags to our shoulders and legs, then continue through the day doing our normal activities. The extra weight forces our muscles to work harder. The benefit comes when we remove the sandbags. What seemed hard while wearing our extra pounds becomes very easy with them gone.
The military does this to perfection. Throw a man in a pool with weights strapped to his limbs, and he’ll become a stronger swimmer. Run an obstacle course with a full pack on his back, and he’ll be able to reach the end easier every day.
A boxer trains for hours each day, yet a fight lasts a fraction of that time. It’s the endurance he builds that enables him to withstand the rigors of the ring.
Michael Phelps, without question the greatest Olympic swimmer of all time, is physically gifted. His limb to torso ratio, and even the rate at which his body metabolizes oxygen, far outstrips that of ordinary men. Yet, during the height of his success, Michael still spent hours every day in the pool, fine-tuning his skills and endurance so that he could be at the top of his game.
If Michael were to become careless and lazy, or begin to consume an unhealthy diet, his swimming would begin to suffer. He would no longer be the masterful swimmer that we know today.
We must keep up our training in Christ the same way. For the spiritual athlete, becoming lazy will burn out our training regimen, cause us to give up our goals, and bring us crashing down in the end. It will become a weight around our neck, and we will sink and drown.
What is this weight we must avoid? False self-confidence and vain boasting.
We are wise to remember that all good things come from the hand of the Lord. We read the story of the rich fool in Luke 12:20 who found his confidence in his barns filled with riches. He based his worth on what he’d accumulated, forgetting from where it had come.
Yet, that very night, his soul was required of him, and all his riches were as nothing on the morrow.
Proverbs 27:1 tells us:
“Boast not yourself of tomorrow; for you know not what a day may bring forth.”
We have to prepare for the future, otherwise we’re fools. However, when we forget that our blessings come at the hand of God, we’re even greater fools.
Only God can see tomorrow, and the rising sun and the breath we breathe is at his largesse. When life is good to us, we should praise him and boast of his excellence in our lives.
Give the stress of tomorrow over to the Lord, and our today will be filled with his joy and peace.
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Code: FGO.E.26.15b.vp.kjv