Beginning of a New Thought

Recently the following phrase got me thinking:

 "I go to the gym everyday, my life is better with it, now I can't imagine not going."

There is a place for everything in my room, and most of these places are labelled, but once in a while my life will get a little busy and my room starts to reflect that. One thing gets moved out of place, then another and then the excuses start rolling. A small thing out of place no longer seems like a big deal, because the big picture really is a big mess. This week my room began to get messy.

My fitness is the same way. I skip the gym one day and it doesn't seem like a big deal, but then more and more days seem okay to miss. This week I began to skip the gym.

Homework follows the same pattern. I have procrastinated my 20 music journals that were to be done throughout the semester and here it is the end of the semester and I have 3 completed. This week I began to procrastinate toooo much homework. 

Eventually all of this builds up until I can't take it any longer. Instead of doing a quick clean of my room each day, or just cleaning as I go, it piles into a mess. Instead of going to the gym for a short workout everyday, I find myself needing to spend hours there just to reach my weekly goal. Instead of doing one journal a week I now have 17 to complete this week. The thing is I SEE it happening. I KNOW when I put something out of place that the whole room will be destroyed. I know exactly that my muscle will not continue to build if I keep skipping the gym, and as for homework, boy do I really know that homework sure can pile up! 

Why am I reflecting on all of this? Well truth be told, I like to think that our spiritual lives work in the same way. We repent for what we have done and we are forgiven, but then we fall into a tiny temptation, and then another and then a bigger one and then our life is one big mess again. We know that even a tiny sin is sin. In James 2:10 we read that someone who commits one sin, is guilty of them all. If we keep our lives tidy, then the small sins will be noticeable and we can work on them, but if we keep adding them to the pile, the pile is gonna get pretty big...as in 40 times bigger than that pile of homework, and 40 times more destructive. (And don't get me started on the number 40...)

This began with one thing out of place on my desk. Now I can't see the desk. 

Just like a physically fit life style, we need to keep spiritually fit. We go into battle each day and if we slack off even one day a week, we are strongly affected by that and the scary part is, like muscle we don't realize we are losing it, until we have something to carry. How are we going to begin to help others carry their burdens if we are spiritually weak?

As my American Literature prof often says, "I'm not here to preach at you, so don't even get that idea, in fact let me sit with you and talk with you". If anything, this is a humble reminder that I received this week that I thought you might want to get in on.

So thank you to the friend I ran into at the gym, you always seem to make me think on a deeper level. Thank you for helping me to realize that I fight a spiritual battle each day, that my life is truly better living spiritually, and that I can't imagine my life without it.

This week, let's begin to de-clutter our lives no matter what that means to you!
To start, we must begin, so lets begin humbly!

What part of your life are you going to work out at the spiritual gym this week?