Accepting Jesus Christ as your Personal Trainer
Of course He’s the Saviour of the world, but lately this little analogy keeps popping up in my mind when we’re in Sabbath School, Bible study, or just a discussion. It takes it a step beyond just the fact of being rescued from eternal nonexistence. It’s truly letting Jesus into your life.
I think of the Christian Life as gym membership. You accept the free membership, and you come in regularly for training, in whatever fashion you choose. Whether you are into the holy treadmills, the evangelistic ellipticals or the sanctifying stationary bikes. You get free personal training sessions with the One and Only Jesus Christ and he pumps you up into shape for all that life throws at you outside the gym doors. Training is not exactlty always fun, but yields myriad benefits. A relationship is built, body and soul, with your Trainer.
Though, sadly, some might just tote around their gym membership card, showing it to people, wearing it around their neck as a good luck charm, or keeping it in their wallet for them to view if they need to convince themselves they aren’t completely bad people. Maybe they’ll even intend to go sometime, but they just don’t feel like it. And that’ll be as far as the membership will go. They may only stop into the health club about once or twice. Their lives won’t reap the benefits of training, and neither will they tap into the truly Saving relationship with the Trainer.
Some might periodically visit the gym, but just stick to the holy treadmills and not show up for their free training sessions. Their physique may not appear gluttonous or swollen with sinfulness, due to their relationship with the treadmill, but their spiritual muscles are hardly flexed as the relationship that really counts is the one with the Trainer, not the treadmill.
And some others might be excited about getting their gym membership and get right onto the exercise equipment, and have every intention of scheduling a session with the Trainer. However, they get caught up in a program they set up themselves, or they become so busy that they neglect to make time for the gym.
Usually I’m not into somewhat cheesy analogies, but this one has come into conversation at least three times in the last month so I thought I would write it down. The last time it popped into mind was when our Bible study group was discussing the Laodicean state. The Laos could fit into any one of those sad categories, though mostly in the first and last. I suppose Ephesus mostly occupies the middle category. Each way, these are missing the point that it is the relationship that saves.
“You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.” Rev. 2: 3-4
“You say, ‘I am rich’…but you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Rev 3:17