The Gymnasium Of The Soul (1)

Training yourself for spiritual fitness. - 1 Timothy 4:7 NLT

When Dallas Cowboys' coach, Tom Landry, was asked how to build a winningteam he said: "My job is to get men to do what they don't want to do, inorder to achieve what they've always wanted to achieve." What did thosefootball players want to achieve? Victory at the Super Bowl. What did they not want to do? The hard work necessary to get there!

Achieving greatness requires discipline - determined, deliberate, daily,definable actions with a clear goal in mind. Paul coached Timothy,saying: "Spend your time and energy in training yourself for Spiritual fitness." Timothy was the Pastor of the Church in Ephesus, a Las Vegassort of city. It was a busy, rich, sensual place to be a Christian. Paulknew that succeeding there wouldn't be easy, so he used the Greek term from which we get our word gymnasium. In other words, becomingChrist-like requires a daily workout. So Paul writes, "Training yourselffor Spiritual fitness." Notice two words: (1) Training - which calls for repetitive exercises so that your mind and appropriate muscle groups worktogether reflexively and automatically. It combines endurance and skill.It's what turns game-winning abilities into habits. (2) Yourself - Nobody else can do it for you. Look through the telephone directory; you don'tfind "Lease-a-Dieter," or "Rent-a-Runner." No, it's up to you!

So, why train yourself? To become like Christ! By living life as He lived it, allowing the Holy Spirit to shape you by His disciplines from theinside out, you'll become more like Him. In other words, spend time eachday in the gymnasium of the soul.

Bible-in-a-year Reading: Eccl 11:7- 12:1, Acts 9:1- 25