June 28, 2010Read: 2 Corinthians 3

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." -- 2 Corinthians 3:18

We recently took my brother and his family to Universal Studios in Los Angeles (Calif). He's got two young boys so naturally they wanted to hit the roller coasters, leaving yours truly holding the bags. But turns out, there's plenty to do with your feet firmly on the ground.

So while my family was busy doing loopdiloops, I had a caricature made of myself. "Why not?", I reasoned. The man said, "Step right up", so I plopped right down. Those passing by would take a look at the drawing, then up at me, then back to the drawing. I suppose they wanted to see if the picture being painted resembled the real thing. Well, after I paid Picasso, I walked back toward my family holding a cartoon of a stranger. But how could I be bitter? He only drew what he saw.

As Christians, we're supposed to resemble Jesus. Yet, I know in my own life, more times than not I don't look anything like Him. I'm a bad caricature of the real thing. And the conclusions people draw of me, aren't anything close to what I am (or who I have) on the inside. A show of hands for those who can relate...

Lord, help us reflect you today; in how we think, work and live. Help us paint for others an accurate picture of you. Amen.

--J.P.

MULTITASKING If you're short on time today, here's a way to build muscle and get trim at the same time

Take a resistance band and loop it under your nearest stationary bike. The handles of the resistance band hook onto the grips of the bike at your sides. Start pedaling and after a minute, grasp the handles of the band and begin a set of biceps curls for a minute. While still pedaling, rest the biceps and go right into lateral raises for another minute. You get the idea. Continuous cardio with various upper body band exercises to boot.

Try this 20 minute workout:

Stationary bike with: Overhead press (shoulders) Curl (biceps) Overhead extension (triceps) Lateral raise (shoulders)

Do each exercise for about a minute then repeat the sequence until your 20 minutes of cardio is up!

And remember, bands are great because they provide variable resistance (it gets more difficult as you continue the range of motion). So at the top of the biceps curl, the exercise is more difficult. So don't be fooled by the perceived ease of band training, but get ready for a doozy!