Gym and Jesus

    If you know me pretty well, you would know that I usually see a lot of spiritual applications and illustrations in my daily life. I was at the gym the other day and I couldn’t help but correlate the gym to our spiritual walk. Let me elaborate.

 

   I was at the gym during the wee hours of the morning the other day and like most of us, I observed people as I was working out. I was on the second floor on the elliptical and looked down at the first floor of people doing their work out routines: Triceps, squats, yoga, spin class, weight lifting, chest presses, racquet ball, etc. I noticed how different and individualized everyone’s work out routines was and how they went about their work outs. There were some people that go there with a “work out buddy” because they know that would keep them motivated to upkeep their gym habits. There are others that have their head phones in, extremely focused, and need their music to stay on beat to complete their work out. Some find yoga to be a way to stay fit and happy, but I personally find it a bit torturing. But hey, doesn't mean that it doesn't work! Just means it's not the way I prefer to go about a work out. There are others that simply go about their work out with no real agenda and go around to do random work outs, chat with others, but work up a good sweat. Everyone has their own routine, way of doing things, and schedule when it comes to working out. However, everyone’s end goal is to leave the gym feeling accomplished knowing that they are in a healthier physical state than before. Everyone’s end goal is to feel good and look good. And once we fall into a place where we no longer make time to stay physically active and fit, we get out of shape, become less motivated, and could potentially fall into a state of discontentment.

   I couldn’t help but think about how this could relate to how we as Christians can go about our spiritual walk the same way. Every Christian goes about their spiritual walk at a pace or in a way that is individualized to best fit who they are as a Christian (besides reading scripture and having prayer rituals because those are super dang important). Some Christians have that “work out” buddy that they need to stay motivated, focused, or help hold them accountable. Not that they need someone to maintain a spiritual walk, but many Christians have that one buddy (or two) that help keep them on the right track. There are others that enjoy staying involved in church and community activities because they feel as though that is what draws them closer to Christ. They feel as though doing service for others is their way of filling their spiritual cup. There are those Christians that thrive off of being in an environment with other Christians because they enjoy the community and how it contributes to their spiritual walk. There are some vital things that Christians do to keep their spiritual walk steady and happenin, but many people go about it their own way. We all go about our journey of discovering who Christ is and who we are IN Christ in a different ways. However, we all have the same goal: Getting to know Christ in a personal way and being the person HE has called us to be so that we can live in heaven with Him forever. How we go about that journey is completely up to us. And just like those that stop going to the gym, if we as Christians get out of a routine or habit of staying spiritually fit, we will also get out of spiritual shape, become less spiritually motivated, and could potentially fall into a state of spiritual discontentment. Yikes.

  Trust me; I (because I’m human) have my fair share of struggles with this as well but it's a process I daily go about with intention, even when some days are harder than others. What keeps you spiritually fit? How do you go about maintaining your walk steady? Do we need to seek out a friend or two to help us out a bit? Whatever it is, if you have the mindset that maintaining and developing a steady spiritual walk is important to you, time to start exploring how that will take place. We just need Jesus as our personal trainer and this whole spiritual work out will be a breeze. :)