Glory Thieves

In his message entitled, "The Myth of Greener Grass," Pastor Shawn Thornton, while beginning a new series on the book of Ruth said, "It is better to be in a hard place with God than in a happy place without Him." Pastor went on to say that, "God's greatest goal for our lives isn't our happiness, but our holiness." Wow. A hard place and holiness.

Well, sparing you a smooth transition, where does the body come into play then? Hard places, happiness, holiness, health?

As the team is knee-deep in writing and constructing the June challenge for you, I find myself asking that question of myself. What is it all about? When doctors removed my 4th disk from my spine, did I rejoice in my salvation more than I mourned my loss of function? And when they said I wouldn't need to wear a colostomy bag, did I celebrate Heaven or did my joy come from the fact that I could still lead a normal life on earth? Tough questions, and perhaps they're a bit unfair. Yanking them from the context of my circumstance to help me write this entry seems too easy. After all, Lord knows either you or someone you love has gone through much worse than I have. 

But the truth of the matter is that everything health related is meant to shape us into living and loving like Jesus. Ultimately, every workout is designed to direct our attention to the Giver of that ability and eventually to the service of Him and others with its byproducts. And therein lies the dilemma and the exposure of our brokenness. We don't do that do we? We are glory thieves.

For us, it's all about our satisfaction, our status, our goals, our dreams. Give me comfort, a little recognition, some financial security and whatever physical goal I'm aiming for, and I'm right as rain. It's under those Instagram-worthy conditions that Philippians 4:13 seems to roll right off tongue.

But the older I get and the more mistakes I make, God is showing me that my tiny will isn't His. My little kingdom won't come, and His ultimate goal for my life isn't to make my body work.

- Jimmy Peña

For Discussion: Only grace can rescue us from ourselves; we glory thieves. That's partly what "A PrayFit Summer" is all about; the daily siege to forfeit our precious control and sabotage our touchy honor. It's not going to be easy. The physical components - the walking, the jogging, the lifting, the eating - will all bring about their benefits for sure. But that's really not the challenge. Hurry and sign-up to reserve your spot.