Training Day
The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” –Muhammad Ali
I came across that quote the other day, and it rings so true. I have done a little boxing in my life, but because of my lack of training I find myself panting heavily only halfway through the first round.
I’ve discovered that it’s not nearly as easy to dance around avoiding right hooks, left jabs and random bull charges (courtesy of my older cousin) as it looks when Sugar Ray Robinson, Ali, Mayweather, or any other boxing great steps into the ring. What’s the reason for this? Well, it seems pretty simple: training, training, training. Every day, going to the gym and working hard. Since I hadn’t been doing that I tired quickly. The same is true in the spiritual realm. As one of the speakers put it at Northeast Youth Explosion this year, “the things you do at home are the things that will come out in great moments.” That’s where daily prayer and Bible reading come in.
The most important part of my day is when I first wake up and commit my day to serving Christ. I crucify my fleshly desires, human lusts, and anything that would hinder God from using me or leading me. Then I put on the whole armor of God according to Ephesians 6:13. Here’s the thing: I want to live my life for God. All of it. Not just Sunday morning, midweek meetings, and youth group. Not just when people are watching, but all day, every day. I don’t want to tire out before the end of the fight, like Paul talks about in I Corinthians 9. It’s not always easy, but as Ali also said, “we have one life; it soon will be past; what we do for God is all that will last.”
Do you want to finish strong? How do you train yourself in Godly discipline? Tell us in the comments.
That rings so true, although sadly sometimes i have a hard time living it, that is always the goal that i strive for, the mark that i aim for…
Tell me about it. My physical exercise regimen is a joke, and it shows when I try to act like I’ve stayed in shape. That’s not nearly as much of a problem as when I let my spiritual training falter: it shows even more.
Some days I get to the end of the day and think, “Man, I’ve really gone through the wringer today. What happened?” Usually I realize that I just didn’t connect with God like I should have, or I depended on myself too much.
Life is hard enough with God to help you through it. Trying to live without that support seems impossible. (I don’t recommend it!)
Its also tough when you oversleep by 40 minutes! LOL
You got it soldier!
You guys are writing some great stuff!
I hope everyone is sending links to the website out into cyberspace.
It’s cool that when we come to places of personal breakthrough and personal victory that God trusts us with influence in others and public breakthroughs. It was through the things that David did when no one else was watching that word spread to the palace that he was the right individual to soothe the king with his harp. Even more telling is the fact that it was God who brought David out of the sheepfolds into places of influence and into situations where his destiny could be accomplished. Personal disciplines are the testing ground for God to show the miraculous in the lives of others.
God bless!