On January 14th we kicked off our Biggest Loser competition. Three teams, each guided by a staff member (Kevin Shelton, Colene Homa, and myself) divied up the 105 participants as they weighed in. Over the last 3 months we have hosted a Monday evening workout, and our thanks to John Hollingsworth for leading in that effort; we've had a blood drive; there was a diet and fitness presentation by Dr.s Rippee and Wiley; and we will be participating in a walk next Saturday to benefit Multiple Sclerosis research. It has been a wonderful time for me, I hope it has been a joy to you.
While the competition was fun, and we have to bow to the blue team for thier weight loss efforts, the competition and weight loss were never truly the purpose. As I stated in the beginning of our Biggest Loser effort our goal was to encourage a healthy lifestyle so that we can all become more useful to God. Just because a person dedicates themself to Christ doesn't mean that we have done all in our power to be useful to God. There are several things that go into that usefulness. Being physcially capable of responding to God's call when it comes is a part of becoming useful to God.
When I am unfit, as I was when we started this (and I should note that I'm not yet where I want to be) I cannot be completely useful to God. I don’t have the energy, stamina, or ability to present the gospel in the passionate way I should. During Easter Sunday last week you heard me say that the primary question of the faith is not "where are you going to spend eternity?" That is a secondary question that is very important but not primary to who we are called to be. The primary question of followers of Jesus Christ should be, "What are you going to do with the new life God has given you through Jesus Christ."
In honor of all those who have labored through this last 3 months to better their own personal fitness, I want to look at the question about what you're going to do with your life by looking at one of the Biggest Loser's of the bible. When I use the term "loser" today I want to be clear that I'm not using it in the perjorative sense. I'm not casting dispersions on someone's character, nor am I suggesting they are lesser in the eyes of God. From the perspective of faith, a loser is one who misses out on opportunities to be useful to God. Today I'm going to talk about Jacob, an old testament character who repeatedly misses opportunities to be useful to God. Next week Kevin is goign to talk about Peter, who comes through in the end, to be very useful to God by living out his purposes in life.
Now, let's look at lessons on faith…and fitness… from the life of Jacob. Using his life we can discern serveral lessons that might help us to understand how we can become Spiritually Fit.
1) You can’t maintain faith/fitness without a clear vision of health
In Gen 27:5-10 - Rebekkah, Jacob's mother, engages him in a plan to deceive his father Isaac. While Jacob exhbited some of this behavior from the beginning, clearly there was a favoritism being played in the family. Mom favoring Jacob, while dad favored his brother Esau. Much of what we learn about how to act in life comes from our parents. I remember that, as a child, I was always taught the importance of cleaning my plate before excusing myself from the table. This made a lot of sense back in the day, but today itis considered bad to teach your children to do so as it may lead to chronic overeating. So many of our life habits are learned at an early age. Jacob learned to lie, cheat and steal. And then he learned to run. At least he learned something that might benefit his health.
2) You can’t call yourself fit when all evidence is to the contrary.
Gen 28:18-22 - Jacob’s pledge at Bethel
3) You won’t ever be fit if you don’t make a lifestyle change
Gen 33:10 - Jacob sees God… again… in the face of Esau.
4) Getting fit is easier if you work with others and not against them
Gen 30:25-43 - Jacob cheats Laban
5) Your fitness choices will make an impact on your children
Gen 34 - The son’s response to Dinah’s rape
Gen 37:25-28 - The sons sell Joseph into slavery
1 comment:
I shared your tomb Easter message with a guy who works at Antioch Music. He id a former student of mine, the son of a minister, and we visit a lot when my kids are taking lessons. The idea that you did not find Jesus in the tomb, but in the sunshine and breeze of real life made quite an impression on me. Thanks for making Easter more meaningful this year. PLUS I am thoroughly enjoying the bios of staff members. I am a people person and just love to hear their life stories.
Cindy D.
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