Lent 2019 Day 19 “Working or Wishing?”

 

Sun 3 Mar 24

Psalm 93, 96, 34

Jeremiah 6:9-15

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Mark 5:1-20

^{1 Corinthians 6:19-20} Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰ you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Have you ever looked at a bodybuilder and said wow! I can remember a time when that was the body I desired. I wanted to be ripped. All the time I spent wanting I could have spent working, After a while, I began to realize that wishing and wanting never got anything done. In order to get the body, I wanted I was going to have to work. I can remember when I would spend days and weeks thinking about running and lifting and working out. All the while I sat in front of a television and ate till my heart was content. Like many people, this led to extra weight, less mobility, and overall decreased health. I wanted something that the cruel joke of genetics and inertia kept me from. The more I wanted and didn’t work the less I was able to work,

As it is in the body so it is in the spirit realm. We are called to honor GOD with our bodies. This equates to doing more than talking about what we want to do for GOD or with our life. To honor GOD with our bodies is to be intentional about spiritually working out. When I say spiritually working out I mean daily walking more and more by faith and not by sight. To walk by faith is to pray with boldness, “not my will but thy will be done”. I am living witness of how a workout plan can transform a body. 5 years ago I weighed 50 more pounds and was essentially inactive. Today I completed 3 triathlons, a half marathon, and countless of 5K’s, all after the age of 50. What changed? I am not sure, except the more I did the more i was able to do.

A Lenten discipline can be a lot like training. There will be days we feel strong and there will be days we are worn out and don’t feel like doing anything. I encourage you today to keep at it. Don’t quit or give up. When it comes to working out I have found a little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing. Trust GOD with your life and you can look at training as providing GOD with a healthier vessel through which to work.

Point to Ponder: What have you been wishing for and not working for? How do you intend to honor GOD with YOUR body? Who can you encourage today with the life you have left?

Prayer: LORD, thank you for the price you paid to redeem me. Forgive me for all the times I acted like it was my life to do with what I wanted. From this day forward, teach me to honor you with my body more and more day by day. Have your way, you are the potter and I am the clay. AMEN

Life Application: Today move a little bit more than yesterday. Repeat this for a week, and see how you feel.

Lent Day 17: Run Your Race

^{Psalm 73:1-3} Surely God is good to Israel,
    to those who are pure in heart.² But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;    I had nearly lost my foothold.³ For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Today is day 17 of our Lenten journey. By now our sacrifices have become familiar and somewhat routine. It is said that habits can be formed when we do a task for seventeen consecutive days. Congratulations if you have gotten this far. Now lets ponder this Psalm 73.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+73&version=NIV

Have you ever spent any time wondering what it would be like if you didn’t have a faith value system that you followed? Have you ever, even after knowing how good GOD is thought, I live and walk by faith and I find myself will less money and more challenges than some people I know who live life with reckless abandon? Have you ever like the Psalmist been walking and not looking where you were going, and almost slipped? I don’t know about you, but I have. I confess that at times it seems like it would be easier to just chase after the money and not even worry about stepping on anybody to get it. Sometimes it seems like it would be easier to live like the wicked who appear to have no struggles and seems so healthy. They seem free from common human burdens and their hearts are calloused. It seems like life would be easier if I just didn’t care about anybody but myself.

With a quick glance the wicked can appear to prosper. As we look at our faithfulness and see the struggles we have to just stay above water, its easy to think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. If life were a sprint this might be true. But Life is a marathon. If we lose sight of the big picture, that GOD has an ever unfolding plan and purpose for our life, including our struggles we can become distracted and slip. One loses forward traction when they spend their life looking all around. The story is told of two men who entered into a race. They started out running as fast and hard as they could. One man only focused on the finish line while the other focused on his opponent. As fate would have it the man focused on the finish line won the race. Observers of the race noticed that every time the loser glanced at his opponent he slowed down just a bit. That momentary glance slowed him down. We get slower when we look around at others.

As we go and grow through this day, I encourage you to keep your eyes on the finish line. No matter what others may be doing you can only run your race. When you look around at others and derive your sense of well being in comparison to others, your drive is artificial. I say this as a person who is highly competitive, yet I realize if I do my best then it doesn’t matter where I finish in a race. It is when I do not do my best, or give full effort that regrets and other non-life enhancing thoughts creep into my life. For all believers I say, run your race, loving GOD with ALL your heart, ALL your mind, ALL your soul, and ALL your strength. When we do this we cannot lose.

Prayer: LORD keep me focused on the prize you have laid up for me. Forgive me for wanting what others may have and not clinging to what you have for me. Guide and keep me in your path, and keep me from slipping. AMEN

Point to Ponder: How have you lost sight of what GOD has for you? How will you regain focus?