It’s summer. People are out and about. More people are exercising. More people are going to the gym. What drives it? Sometimes it’s simply concern about appearances. After all, the covering offered by the bulky winter coats is gone. At the same time, there are many who just want to be fit.
I had cause to wait in a YMCA recently. As I watched people coming and going, I could see determination on the faces of many who passed through. This included a couple people who were signing up for their membership. They wanted to be fit. They were determined to take advantage of the many options for fitness available to them through a Y membership. This brings you to choices.
The Choice to Be Fit
Inasmuch as there was a fair amount of traffic going through the YWCA, there were many others who had chosen not to take advantage of its membership. As a matter of fact, generally, there are many who routinely choose to ignore the options that would lead them to be fit. This is not limited to fitness through physical activity. Take food.
Given the choice between healthy and unhealthy food options, there are those who will choose the healthy option. They have a broad view of what it means to be fit and healthy. At the same time, there is a sizeable number that will knowingly choose unhealthy options. They are very concerned with specific tastes and that to which they are accustomed. In this instance, it’s not an issue of availability but of choice.
So often what you choose comes down to preference rather than to availability. This includes your preference and choice between clear options—what will help and what will hinder. If you turn away from a better choice when the options along with their implications are clearly lined up before you and available, what will happen when it is more murky and it is harder for you to find what is best?
This raises a pertinent question put by God to Jeremiah:
And if in a safe land you fall down,
how will you fare in the thickets of the Jordan (Jeremiah 12:5b)?
Yes. Making the best choices when it’s easy prepares you to make the best choices to be fit when it’s not as easy or convenient. This is true of your life in general. It is also true of your spiritual life.
Spiritually Fit
There are activities in which you need to engage to be fit spiritually . You know them—study the Bible regularly, pray regularly, gather with other Christians for encouragement and challenge, love your neighbor in practical ways. These are Christian practices.
There are seasons when it is easy to do these practices with regularity and meaning. These are all readily available. However, if you don’t cultivate the habits in this season, what will it be like when the season changes?
The question is: Do you want to be fit? If yes, cultivate that which will help you to be fit spiritually when it is readily and easily available. Turn from the choices that lead to an unhealthy spiritual life.
Experience God more fully through honest, surrendered, heart praying and live with greater clarity and peace.
Photo courtesy of sabinemondestin / pixabay.com