Faith and fitness together aren’t about wanting Christ to inform our workouts or our approach to health and wellness. Sounds nice and righteous though doesn’t it? It’s about God wanting to transform every part and every moment of your life. THAT radically shifts this from ‘what I do’ and ‘how I choose to live’ TO ‘God is in control’ and continually yielding our “I want …” to that divine control and providence.
If you identify as a Christian you probably have some level of understanding of this already. But, people understanding that they need to eat healthier, exercise regularly and get more rest doesn’t do jack squat if they don’t do it. And if they do it kinda-sorta just part of the time – yeah that really doesn’t have much influence and impact either. You want to get fit? You gotta want it! You gotta live like you reeeealy want it.
John Calvin talks about this when he says that, “all events whatsoever are governed by the secret counsel of God.” Weather you recognize this truth or not, it is still at play. And – when you do recognize this reality that’s still not enough for it to make a difference in your life. To submit to God’s governence and not just let His counsel ‘guide you’ but shape you and permanently mold you – ah, there’s the powerful shift from sinful nature and status quo to champion life in Christ.
(Tap on the text above to read the entire Bible passage.)
I WANT FAITH DRIVEN FITNESS
Ok, honestly I don’t think we even know what that looks like but let’s envision it, define it and work toward making it a daily reality.
- BEFORE: It is starting with God first and foremost. Before the workout put the devotion where it should be.
- DURING: Maintain a conversation (prayer) with God between sets, when drinking water, when interacting with others.
- AFTER: Transition from your workout to what’s next in life with a God-directed plan and vision.
imbude: To inspire or influence thoroughly; pervade. To saturate, impregnate, or dye (cause to absorb).
This isn’t a call to do something ‘spiritually’ weird or distracting from getting solid exercise and training. It is however a challenge (the challenge you put on yourself) to build a context for your workouts that puts and keeps God at the core. And yes, I’m asserting that when you do what really matters to God and it becomes your default model – your obsession THEN it will truly change everything about your physical focus, practices and existence. We may not be doinging it anything like we could, but God-imbued exercise is the goal.
WHO CARES WHAT I WANT?
God does, big time! In fact God put the I want… in each of us. Unfortunately, more times than we’d like to admit, the I want… get’s corrupted by frustration, anger, vanity, stubbornness, lack of wisdom and perhaps most often by selfishness.
The good news is that when that happens God is right there ready to help you update to the latest version of you.
Discover a new depth and your greatest potential in the example Jesus Christ gave us, “Not what I want Father, but what you want.” What God wants is for you to follow him and want Him more fully every day.
Does that require surrender? Yes! Will it be painful? Probably. Why do it? Because it’s what you want.
Train strong in Christ,
Brad Bloom, Publisher
