When I was new to Charlotte (the second time around), I joined the Morrison Family YMCA to work out at their gym, have access to aerobics and strength training classes, and register my children for the awesome programming and camps they have for little ones. At first, I stuck to the treadmill, but after a few weeks, I started to venture out, using some of the weight machines. One of the YMCA fitness staff showed me how to use some of the weight training machines I’d never tried before, and I was hooked. My workouts started to become more well-rounded.
Occasionally, the YMCA would promote a fitness challenge, and mostly, I ignored those, thinking they were only for super-fit people who were nothing like me. But then one challenge caught my eye; I read about it and I thought, “Why not?”
The eight-week challenge had basically two parts: 1. Log a workout (by checking in at the front desk) four times each week of the challenge, and 2. Try something new (a new exercise, machine, or fitness class) each week. The “carrot” to motivate participants was a nice YMCA Challenge t-shirt. :) I could see myself sporting that shirt around during workouts and looking down on all those gym peons out there. (Just kidding! The t-shirt was not my motivation at all!)
Both of the aspects of the challenge concerned me, however. How would I ever find time for four workouts per week? I was in my routine of maybe three per week…..more often, two. And trying something new each week felt scary to me because I was already using all of the machines/exercises I felt comfortable with!
But I went through with it, and during the next eight weeks, I met all of the requirements of the challenge! I figured out a way to get that extra workout in each week, and I pushed myself to try something new each week. It was amazing how fun and interesting it was and how good it made me feel!
Four weeks in, I was running on the treadmill and reached the three-mile mark, which was the farthest I had ever run before. Three miles on the treadmill had always been my limit for running. But because of the ways I’d been challenging my body, I found, to my surprise, that I was not tired when I reached that point, so I decided to keep on going! I still remember to this day the shock I felt when I reached five miles! I was so proud of myself. I knew that if I’d wanted to, I could have continued to six or seven miles. That was mind-blowing to me.
The Apostle Paul compares our Christian discipleship to a rigorous workout, challenging oneself to push beyond the limits of what we think we can do, to go higher and reach farther than we have thought possible, with these words:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 NIV
Paul is expressing his desire to challenge himself so that he makes progress in his walk with Christ. And he is encouraging other Christ followers to do the same. As we enter the season of Lent, the forty days leading up to Easter Sunday, we are encouraged by the Church to step up to a challenge. What will we give up, to remind us of Christ’s sacrifice? What will we take on as spiritual practices, to draw closer to God in prayer and generous living? How will we repent of actions and thoughts that are harmful, merciless, judgmental, critical, selfish, and prayerless?
In accepting this challenge, we deepen our discipleship. We get more in step with Jesus as He journeys to Jerusalem. We increase our maturity and strengthen our faith.
Lent. It’s a challenge! But it is well worth the results.
njoyngod 