Getting pumped for Christ!
If you have ever listened to UCB1 radio a few years back on a Wednesday afternoon you may have heard a feature run by DJ Gareth Cottrell called “what you up to Wednesday” in which listeners can share a snap shot of their day with other listeners. My kids and I have shared pictures on this feature before, so one day I decided to participate.
You see, a few weeks previously I had joined a gym for the first time in about 14 years. I was listening to Gareth on the way into the gym so I thought I would share a pic of me post workout and my T-shirt which cleverly reads the word Jesus incorporated into a cross.
On the way home it was time for another update and I smiled as Gareth read my post about my T-shirt at the gym. I chuckled as he commented on the size of my muscles, asking how often I trained. I looked back at the photo and thought, right enough, I look stronger than I actually am in that picture. I commented under the post explaining that I have only been going to the gym for a few weeks and the photo was misleading because I was pumped after my workout.
For anyone not familiar with the term, pumped is when your muscles swell up during your workout, which is caused from the excessive amount of blood going into the muscle and filling it up the same way you would fill up a water balloon. So straight after my workout, I looked hugely muscly. It was an unrealistic and potentially misleading snapshot of a single moment in time. In the interest of honesty I pointed this out to readers on the Facebook post, which Gareth shared again on air.
It got me thinking though. In the picture I looked to be something I’m not, it was temporary. If I want to build muscles and burn fat it’s not enough to go to the gym once or twice. I drive away from the gym with fabulous looking arms and by the time I get home they are back to scrawny and a bit wobbly in places.
It’s a bit like our faith isn’t it. We can go to church, dressed in our Sunday best, song the hymns with gusto and walk out looking like good strong Christian folk. Except sometimes by the time we get home, it’s all gone a bit wobbly. We have done our bit for the week, and sure there’s always next Sunday again.
When I leave the gym, my body returns to normal in most ways, except underneath the surface it is healing, rebuilding and strengthening. It is an ongoing process that happens so subtly it’s barely noticed. When we leave church, do we allow our faith to strengthen through the week? Do we allow God’s grace to heal our hurts or do we go back to carrying it all ourselves?
I go to the gym every other day because if I went once a week it just wouldn’t be enough. I need to train regularly to see any difference in my fitness, wellbeing and stamina. Just like we need to regularly train our faith. Believing in God without prayer, bible study and fellowship is a bit like owning a gym membership but never actually walking through the door to train.
My body gets pumped when I work out. My spirit gets pumped when I work out with and for God. When I lead worship, Sunday school, youth events, or study God’s word more deeply, my spirit gets pumped. Not on a physical level, but on a deeply spiritual level, full of the Holy Spirit.
So I guess today, my challenge to myself and to you, what are you getting pumped for? Are you living a life of snapshots, sharing moments to make it look like life is better than it is? Or are you ready to commit to the journey of the Christian faith. It’s a long journey, life long in fact, and some days will be harder than others, but the prize at the end is greater than any trophy, to spend eternity with the risen Lord Jesus. Now that’s a goal worth getting pumped for.
