Several years ago, I joined a health club and went four or five times a week to ride the recumbent bike.
Being a people watcher, as I pedaled the miles away, I observed the other exercisers. One man in particular caught my attention. He was there every day wearing a brightly colored T-shirt with the message “JUST DO IT!” on the front in big letters.
After a few weeks I realized that although he was there every day, I never saw him do any kind of exercise. He mainly hung out in the easy chairs facing the basketball court, engaging in animated conversations with whoever else was sitting there. His behavior intrigued me. As he spent time at the health club among all the people who were exercising, did he hope some of their results would rub off on him? Did he go home later and talk about his day at the gym, failing to mention that all he had done there was talk with people?
Although I found the irony of this behavior amusing, I couldn’t shake off the thought that there was a lesson there for me. Then it dawned on me that although I did spend my time at the health club exercising, there was a parallel between that man’s gym behavior and my own Christian behavior. How easy it can be for us to show up at church every Sunday, sing the songs, drink the coffee, chat with other believers, yet leave unchanged. Or we may attend Bible studies without letting what we’ve learned affect our behavior.
The only way to grow in our walk with God is to spend time alone with Him. Being around others who are doing so is not enough. The famous evangelist Billy Sunday once said, “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to the garage makes you an automobile.” There is no substitute for spending personal time with God.
Are our prayers meaningful dialogue with Him, or rote repetitions? When we read our Bibles, are we allowing God’s Word to change our thinking and renew our minds, or are we just ticking off a requirement on our to-do list? James 1:22 tells us to, “be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
The “just-do-it” guy was deceiving himself. He was wearing the T-shirt on the outside while nothing much was happening on the inside. Let’s be sure we aren’t doing the same thing in our spiritual lives.
To hear good Biblical teaching about strengthening your relationship with God, visit us at Charis Christian Church, 4811 E. Julep St., Suite 101, in Mesa.