Personal Trainer
By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president
Our oldest son worked as a personal trainer for a period of time.
Each day he would go to the gym to meet his clients. Some of his clients were quite fit and just needed some extra coaching on how to do certain exercises. Some of them just needed the motivation of a personal trainer in order to reach their goals or to even just get out of bed in the morning to go to the gym. Other clients would be motivated by the new year and would want to get in shape quickly and thought personal training would whip them into shape. Some were out of shape and had no idea where to start. All of them shared one thing in common.
They wanted better health, and they were coming to the personal trainer to achieve that health.
The results were also interesting. Some would achieve their goals and decide they didn’t need the services of the personal trainer anymore and continued on their own. Others would get discouraged because they were not getting results fast enough and would drop off. Others would achieve their goals and want to go even further by sticking with their trainer. There are many excuses and reasons we tell ourselves to not go to the gym.
The comparisons to our walk with God are certainly there.
Most of us desire to have a great relationship with God. We want to be in top spiritual shape. We may even start out strong by reading the Bible and praying regularly. Then the cares of the world come in and we get busy and distracted. Spiritual lethargy sets in, and before you know it, our only spiritual time may be in church occasionally. Maybe as we read the Bible, we start thinking that we are not achieving the spiritual strength that we thought we should, so we get discouraged and drop out. There are many reasons we allow to creep into our mind to not have a daily walk with God.
You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of me.
Our personal training starts with the Bible, and we have a personal trainer to help us every day.
It is the privilege of all who believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior to feed on the Word of God. The Holy Spirit’s influence renders that Word, the Bible, an immortal truth, which to the prayerful searcher gives spiritual sinew and muscle.
What does that mean?
It means that as you read, study, and search the Bible, you have your own personal trainer in the Holy Spirit who helps you grow spiritual muscle. Friends, keep going to the spiritual gym of Bible study and prayer. Your personal trainer wants to help you get the spiritual muscle needed for each day of your life.