07/07/08

Good Monday Mornin!

Hebrews 3:12-13 says. . .

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving, heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

One of the things that has become a regular part of my life over the past two years is going to the gym almost every day of the week. It has changed my life, I can breath now, walk farther than 10 feet without getting exhausted, my appetite is like it is supposed to be, there are just lots of advantages to working out and keeping ones self in shape.

Now at the gym I have two workout partners; Cory and Brian. And we keep each other straight. For instance, last Friday I did not feel like going to the gym and I told Cory that I was going to skip that day, he said, “oh come on you big wimp once you get there you will be glad you went”. Now think about this just a minute, if I was working out by myself, I would have not gone at all. But because I have a work out partner who is willing to call me a “wimp” when I don’t want to work out I went. And I can tell you without any hesitation that if it were not for Cory and Brian I would not go most days if I were going by myself. But we encourage one another.

Church is a lot like working out. We get started in church and things really start to happen. The worship is meaningful, the preaching speaks to us, the people are friendly, and our lives are changing. And usually we can see change happening very quickly. But then something happens, we get stale, the worship seems dull, the preaching seems redundant, and the people are not as friendly as they used to be. What just happened? Well the answer is NOTHING! Nothing happened, it is the same singer singing, the same preacher preaching, the same people meeting, it is just you have entered maintenance mode.

Maintenance mode is what happens when the new wears off of something. For instance, marriage. When the new wears off we enter maintenance mode. Nothing changed, it is the same person, we just see their flaws more clearly and so we are called to look past those and love them anyway!

So anyhow, we go to church, things get dull, and next thing we know we skip one Tuesday night, and then maybe go the next and then skip the next and then we feel distant from God and on and on and on! God calls us to look past the novelty of church or the show of church and get down to the business of deeply changing our lives, and we want to keep looking at everyone else and not us! So what do we do? We get ourselves some workout partners.

So just like in the gym, we find couple of people with like minded agendas for their lives and we do life together. This is why I am always encouraging you guys to get into a Bible study. So what can a work out partner do for you? I am going to list a few things. . .

1.                          Keep you focused. When you miss church or decide you are not going on a particular night, a workout partner can keep you in tune with the fact that you need to be there anyhow. They will be the first ones to call you when you miss. And I know this can make you feel guilty, but hey you have to decide are you more worried about feeling guilty or are you more worried about growing in Christ?

2.                          A workout partner will push you beyond your limits. One thing that Cory and Brian do for me is they spot me. In other words when I am lifting they help me get the weight off of me when it gets to heavy. But there is more to spotting than just getting the weight off of someone, you are there to encourage them to go past where they think they should quit. And then when they are at their breaking point to reach down and grab the bar and bare just enough of the burden to help them get the bar back on the rack. And that is the same as your walk with Jesus. A partner is to help you through things that you cannot make it through on your own and then when the weight is more than you can bare, they help you get it off!

3.                          Finally a workout partner makes sure you have good form. A person can lift all the weight they want to but if they do not have the proper form they are wasting time. Just like you can read the Bible, but if you are not reading, praying, studying, seeking and meditating, it will get you nowhere just to let the words pass through your eyes! A workout partner keeps you in line and helps bring balance to your life.

So. Find yourself a workout partner for your walk with Jesus. You need someone that is further along their walk with Jesus than you so that you can grow more like them. And the best way to do this is join a Bible study! I love you guys, have a great week!

Pastor Jason Lyle 
The Open Range Church of Henry County 
Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.