Today is the first Sunday in May. It’s the time of year in which many will try to slim down and get fit, trying to shed off all of those unwanted pounds that we have accumulated over the past winter.
A few weeks ago I went to the VA Hospital for my yearly check-up and I was a little shocked when they told me that my cholesterol was high. I told the doctor that I try to eat a healthy diet and work out fairly regular. She asked me what I normally ate, I told her that I really watch my carb intake and that most days for lunch I try to eat a couple of a couple of eggs and some. She then told me that more than likely that that was my problem.
You see, all though eggs have zero carbs, egg yolks are high in cholesterol. So now I am trying to keep a watch on how much eggs I eat.
I decide about a month or so ago to enter in the Kansas State Games and compete in the State Games Wrestling Tournament this summer. As many of you know, I turned 40 year old last year and that places me into a great age bracket for the tournament. I will be wrestling in the 40-49 year age group. So I figured that if I am to compete one last time, this is my chance.
I have about three months to get healthy, in shape, train and loose a little un-wanted weight in order to do the best I can.
I have been thinking about this for a while now and God has revealed a message for us today about just that. Getting in shape, Training, and Losing Weight.
First off, let me talk to me talk to you this morning about Training.
I. Training.
1 Corinthians 9:25-26 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air
To be a successful athlete, you must have a strict work out program. Anything less will not do and you will not be the best you can be.
How you train can be the deciding factor in how you compete. If you barley train, skip corners or half way do it, your success rate drops severely.
But what about us Christians, how can we apply 1 Corinthians 9: 25-26 into our Spiritual lives?
Christians, we should be training as well for our crown and it simple really. Our crown, our reward, our prize is eternal life in heaven with Jesus. But how must we train to get the prize?
Christian living is the answer but is CHRISTIAN LIVING WHAT WE TRULLY LIVING?
Church attendance, reading the Scriptures, Praying daily are great and wonderful things but is this all we should be doing? I think it is more than that really.
Illustration: Talking to my girls the other day about how their track season was going got me to think more about this. I asked them what they were doing in order to compete to their fullest. The answer was the obvious, “Practice 4-5 days a week for an Hour and a half”. But is this really enough? You figure we all have 24 hours in a day and what we do during those hours really matters. Only devoting an hour and a half out of 24 hours really doesn’t cut it. How can anyone expect to be the best they can be at something that they barley train for? Many athletes wonder why they are not performing better when competition time comes around but spend no time doing something about it.
As Christians we too fall into this category to a certain degree. Many believe that church is enough and that we are the best we can be for His service because we go to church once a week. Think about it like this:
There are seven days a week, 24 hours a day. That gives us 168 hours each week total. On average our church service here lasts an hour, and sometimes an hour and a half.
So, on average we spend just in church service alone 1 ½ hours out of 168 hours a week worshiping God. Now I have no idea what y’all do outside of church for worshipping God but I do want you to think about if this. If this is all we are doing, is this enough to have the best relationship with God we can? Are we being the best Christian we can be?
Many of you will be seeing me ridding the bike in the bike around town. I know that I need to capitalize on the time I have in order to stay in shape to compete. Ridding the bike back and forth to the church adds more training into my regiment and will assist me in staying in shape. I can’t just train in the wrestling room for an hour and a half each day and call it good. I will be at the Y, ridding the bike, and wrestling with Lane each day to maximize my training.
This is exactly what we too need to be doing for Worshipping God. Instead of listening to worldly music on our drives, how about switching on some Christian music and praising God during our drive to work, the store, or whatever. Instead of attending just church service, how about a Sunday School Class, prayer time with the pastors Sunday mornings at 8:30, a bible study throughout the week, morning devotionals, and have continuous prayer throughout the day.
Just like working out goes. It’s so tough to start doing it. It takes commitment. That’s why we try and find a workout partner to help keep us going. Maybe we need to find a Christian Brother or sister to help keep us going as well.
Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
But you know what I have realized over the years with working out? Even though it is so difficult to get started, it’s pretty difficult to stop as well. Whenever you skip a workout, you just feel horrible, the day doesn’t go right and you just don’t feel right.
You see, it’s because of two things: One, because you have created a habit, a good habit and all habits are hard to break. And Two, because you know working out is good for you.
Regular Church attendance, prayer, Bible Studies or whatever is the same exact way. Very hard to start but it is also very hard to stop as well for the same reasons.
The bottom line is simple really. How do we expect to be all that God wants us to be if we are not willing to train to be all He wants us to be?
I’m not going to just focus on working out to be ready for the Kansas State Games but I am going to also focus on shedding some extra pounds as well.
II. Dieting.
It’s really odd isn’t it how the body works. Once I hit 30 years old my body just seemed to change almost automatically overnight. Instead of being able to eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, I had to really watch what I ate and even when I ate. I acquired a spare tire around my mid-section, and my body seemed to slow down.
The heaviest I weighed was about three years ago @ 209lbs. This morning I weigh about 175lbs. but I still have some pounds to shed before I can compete this summer.
One thought I had was, how easy it was to lose weight when I was younger. When I was younger I was more eager to diet and exercise. I was more active. And I also can remember how I was the same way spiritually speaking when I was a babe in Christ.
When I first gave my life to Jesus, I couldn’t get enough of Him. I was like a sponge soaking up everything I could and throughout the years I have had to really keep myself in check because I slowly found myself becoming complacent and lazy.
Just like gaining unwanted weight on my body, I believe we gain unwanted and un-healthy weight spiritually through various sins. You see, we sin because of the temptations to do so. Sinning tastes good; it’s enticing but extremely unhealthy for us and just like cake, candy and pop. All of the unhealthy things that we crave in this world ultimately hurt us. Sin will pack on unwanted spiritual pounds into our lives and they attached themselves to us in such a way that we may not even see it as it is happening but they all add up until one day we take a look in the mirror and can’t stand what we see.
I can remember when I hit 209lbs. I couldn’t stand to look in the mirror, I hated what I seen. I was depressed and ashamed of what I allowed my body to become. I knew I had to do something about it so I began to diet.
Maybe some of us here today feel the same way spiritually. Maybe we have allowed the sweets of the world to overcome us in such a way that we have simply accepted them as a part of our lives and they have become a part of who we are. Maybe we feel like we have let ourselves go so much to the point of no return. But this is a lie and the furthest thing from the truth.
We can take charge and we can make a difference, we can change.
Hebrew 12:1 therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us
Just like dieting, what we put into our bodies affects us.
If you’ve heard this story before, my apologies – just enjoy it again
Illustration: GOD’s DIET PLAN:
• And God populated the earth with broccoli and cauliflower and spinach and green and yellow vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.
• And Satan created hamburger restaurants. And hamburger restaurants brought forth the 99-cent double-cheeseburger. And Satan said to Man, "You want fries with that?"
• And Man said, "Super-size them." And Man gained pounds.
• And God created the healthful yogurt, that woman might keep her figure that man found so fair.
• And Satan froze the yogurt, and he brought forth chocolate, nuts and brightly colored sprinkle candy to put on the yogurt. And woman gained pounds.
• And God said, "Try my crispy fresh salad."
• And Satan brought forth creamy dressings, bacon bits, and shredded cheese.
• And there was ice cream for dessert. And woman gained pounds.
• And God said, "I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil with which to cook them."
• And Satan brought forth chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter, and Man gained pounds, and his bad cholesterol went through the roof.
• And God brought forth running shoes, and Man resolved to lose those extra pounds.
• And Satan brought forth cable TV with remote control so Man would not have to toil to change channels between ESPN and ESPN2. And Man gained pounds.
• And God said, "You’re running up the score, Devil." And God brought forth the potato, a vegetable naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition.
• And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fat fried them. And he created sour cream dip also. And Man clutched his remote control and ate the potato chips swaddled in cholesterol.
• And Satan saw and said, "It is good!" And Man went into cardiac arrest.
• And God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery. And Satan created HMOs....
Now we laugh at that story, but that is only because it is so true and we are embarrassed. Did you know that more than 60% of the American population is overweight? And our problem is getting worse every year.
30% of adults aged 20 and older are considered obese. The percentage of obese children ages 6-19 has more than trebled since 1980 and now more than 16% or 9 million kids fit into that category.
We need to stay physically fit but the situation is critical not only with our physical bodies but with our spiritual bodies as well.
I Timothy 4:8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.
In today’s world we live in, it seems that we have become more acceptable with sin. We have placed sins into categories from bad to not so bad and we justify sins to fit into our lives. But the sad truth is that it doesn’t matter how we accept and justify sin. Sin is still sin no matter how you cut it.
From how we accept how Gluttony is okay once in a while, to how we say living a homosexual lifestyle is okay. Sugar coating certain sins in our lives only creates an un-healthy life.
We are to live separate from the world and live a life that is pleasing to God. We have to draw the line somewhere. If we don’t what are we living for? Self or God?
God created us to be much more than what most of us are. He desires strict training in order for us to live the lives that He has blessed us with. Church, let’s get in shape.
