My legs are a little wobbly this morning.
When I was young I took Karate. I studied for three years, three nights a week and on weekends. My body was in great shape.
I was a lot younger then!
So fast forward, some 35 years, I recently decided to take Taekwondo classes. Last night was my third class and I was relearning stances and kicks I have not performed in all those years.
Remarkably so, my muscles locked into place, they remembered, my technique was actually very good the twelve year-old female black belt told me as she effortlessly performed the basic moves for me to learn.
Oh to be that young again!
However I am nowhere near the shape I was in back then, not even close.
My leg muscles quickly began to ache and throb. Although they knew where to go and what to do they were not conditioned to do so. After only a few minutes of kicking, jumping, and standing in a horse riding stance (picture sitting on a horse... now take away the horse and hold yourself there... yeah, fun!) my heart was racing, I was sucking in air, and my legs wanted to give out.
Reading 1 Corinthians 9 this morning, very fitting.
"Don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified." 1 Cor 9:24-27 (NLT)
You see, it is not enough to know the truth, we must exercise our faith in order to live it out. That means love others when you don't feel like it. Tired? Too bad, open that Bible instead of surfing the net. Grab a devotional book, start reading it. Make it to church, listen to the sermon and even take notes to review later. Mind wanders when praying? Grab a pen and paper, write out the prayers.
You get the idea.
Then, when that time comes when we need to be strong, we will be. We will not just know the truth, we will be able to act on it.
Can you imagine what the church would look like if we all conditioned ourselves to win?
