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Matthew 26:41 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

So there I am last night logging in miles on my trusty treadmill. I wasn’t sweating to the oldies, I WAS a sweating oldie! But I was being a godly Christian woman, following 1Corinthians href="https://pro.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q=1co+9:27">1 Corinthians 9:27 and beating my body. I hopped off the treadmill to the mat on the floor for some lower body work. Okay, so maybe hop isn’t exactly what I did. Stumbled? Fell? Dropped gasping for air like a fish just let off the hook? However it happened, there I was, diligently doing my reps with the weights, counting off leg lifts. I did, unfortunately, look down and think someone had spilled a container of cottage cheese on my thigh, then realized with horror it WAS my thigh. This was one of those moments when you realize why you’re supposed to keep your eye on the prize… instead of yourself! Ah! Another spiritual moment in bodybuilding! And let’s face it, girls, the reason they call them “ab crunches” is because crunching is something that got our abs in that condition in the first place! Gee, would the Proverbs 31 woman have wanted a “six-pack”, is that sinful? Hey – come to think of it, there’s not one little mention of her going to the gym and working out in between rising up early to feed her family, buying a field, and sewing those scarlet garments! As I recall, her family rose up and called her blessed, not buff! Oh, well maybe she did work out – verse 17 does say her arms are strong. Argh! I sit up, make a groaning noise that my grandfather used to make when he tried to get out of his chair at night, and crawl over to the resist bands to work out my arms. What is that awful sound, a wild turkey? No, just the lower half of my biceps swinging in the breeze. But I digress…

The point of this diatribe is that I am working really hard to have the best body I can have – my own personal best. But as strong or weak as my body may or may not be, am I doing the same thing spiritually? Am I as intentional with what I put in my brain as with what I put in my body? Is my spiritual menu filled with Living Water, the Bread of Life, regular servings of prayer and Scripture? Or am I spiritually flabby, allowing things like excess television, wasted time, and other questionable events to be my menu items? Is my visual/auditory/emotional/social diet everything Christ would want me to take in? Am I allowing the reflection of the Holy Spirit to reveal the image of who I really am as I strive to allow my surrendered life to mirror that of my Savior? Or do I walk past it and purposefully look the other way, avoiding the truth that I am spiritually unfit? Am I clothed in the garments of righteousness and the armor of God Colossians href="https://pro.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q=col+3:12-14">Colossians 3:12-14 and Ephesians href="https://pro.studylight.org/study-desk.html?q=eph+6:10-18">Ephesians 6:10-18), or am I still wearing the “fat clothes” of sinful habits?

Lord, any healthy choice begins with a change of heart. Today, I renew my commitment to You. I want to be a spiritual amazon woman! My spirit is willing; help me to take the necessary daily step-by-step actions, in the strength of Christ, for the body to follow. Help me resist the temptation to settle for lukewarm spiritual mediocrity, and to be my personal best for You.

"Bible verse and quote" from Jan Couns

Bible and Quote - February 18-22