Buff Christians

This morning I had a young man working at the church doing some community service. Since it was a nice day I sent him outside to do a little yard work. It didn't seem too hard. He was going to clip some brush and pack it into garbage bags. After about a half hour he told me his arms were killing him from the clipping. I thought about it and it struck me that he was probably using muscles he hadn't used before. No wonder he was hurting. So I gave him something else to do so he could take a break from the clipping.

Afterwards I was struck by the reality that the same thing is true with the devotional life. It is hard to set a pattern of prayer and Bible reading if you have never done it before. We get worn out easily. Sometimes we even get discouraged and don't go back to it. Yet, I know that if we keep trying, little by little we will begin to develop a great habit that will nurture our souls.

So I told my young friend that we would come back to the clipping later and by the end of the summer this exercise might even have him looking pretty buff. He smiled at that and agreed that he'd like to do more on Tuesday.

So what about you? Can you be a buff Christian? Why not? Let's pick up that Bible and start exercising.

Cal