Building Blocks. The process of Lent is designed to build us into better Christians. To do this, we must consider all aspects of living a Christian life. This is now four weeks into Lent and I can notice a sizable difference in myself more than just physical. I have been growing as a man of strength and endurance through diet and exercise, mentally and emotionally, and, most importantly, in my walk with God.
The physical aspect is very obvious since I am dieting and exercising everyday. The diet consists of three main meals and a small afternoon fruit snack. The exercise part is not very imaginative. I usually spend the majority of the time jogging. I will do 40 sit ups and 40 push ups and the occasional set of 40 jumping jacks. In an attempt to mix it up some, I will do some additional activities as I have spoken of recently. Tonight, I restacked cinder blocks. Actually, I unloaded 54 and 2 halves off of the trailer and stacked them back behind the garage. My construction guys have been rearranging cinder blocks for two days now. This is so much fun and healthy exercise that I am considering the implementation of Cinder Block Aerobics and calling it a benefit. Cancel the gym membership guys, I have new program for you. I hear the trainer is a good motivator.
The mental aspect is easy to explain. Overcoming laziness is not a physical problem; it is only mental. The body wants to get up and do things. This is how we were biologically created. The mind becomes lazy and allows the body to atrophy. Then we feel uncomfortable. If there is something that you must physically get up and do, then American entrepreneurs have designed, tested, fabricated, and marketed a device that eliminates that effort in an attempt to make your life that much more comfortable. Conversely, making myself get up and get physical has reminded me that my body needed to get that cholesterol out and lose some fat. I now feel more comfortable in how I feel as well as how I look. This is healthy for my mental and emotional state. I feel more confident, comfortable, and energized.
Lent is about the relationship with God. If you ever want to know how to have a good relationship with someone then know rule #1 of communication: Listen. Therefore, listening to God has been my focus. Too often I don’t listen for any number of reasons: I think I am in control, I don’t want to hear what He has to say, or I don’t know how to “listen”. I am a good listener with people because I can see body language, sense physical demeanor and facial expressions, and I can literally hear them. God doesn’t work like that. I have paid attention to that “gut feeling” or that “heavy heart” and followed that with success. More recently I have listened to God through other situations that some people could call coincidence. One such example involves something that has been bothering me for a while now and is really festering up in the past couple of days. I walked into a room today and heard a conversation about someone else with that exact same problem and their experience. I never spoke a word. I just sat their listening and suddenly I felt at ease with my situation. When they finished their topic, they literally walked away and left the room in opposite directions with no further discussion. Now, why those three people gathered in that room at that time and had that particular conversation and I happened to arrive and hear that . . . well, I think God was telling me something. God was answering my prayers.
No comments:
Post a Comment