How's Your Workout?

I lifted weights pretty seriously in high school for the sake of athletics. Those of us who were into it, we were never content with whatever we were capable of at the time. My first goal was to just bench press my own weight, which wasn’t much. I kept increasing that goal by 10 lbs., and each time I’d achieve the next goal, I’d move it up again.We’d all test our “max” periodically, but the key to growing to what we were capable of, was the daily, 3 sets of 10, and increasing how much we could do that way. Then every week or so, we’d test our "max" again. But whenever we’d “max out,” we’d make sure to have a spotter, someone that stands behind you (for bench pressing), keeping his hands just under the bar to be ready to assist, in case you can’t quite get that much weight up. It’s an awful thing to be pinned underneath what you are trying to lift!And that has taught me some lifelong lessons on spiritual growth, and growing my faith.Faith is like a muscle. It has to be used, just to maintain it, and it has to be exerted, exercised, and periodically “maxed out,” in order for it to grow.In Romans 4, Paul recounted the ever growing faith of Abraham, “Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous" (Romans 4:20-22 NLT). I love how Paul then applies that to us, “...assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead" (Romans 4:24 NLT).Are you satisfied with where you are spiritually today? I hope not. I never knew a weightlifter who was satisfied. And I don’t know that any sincere followers of Jesus are satisfied either.God is in place right now as your spotter. And he’s probably placed some weights on your bar that you think are over your limit. But he’s also ready to help and keep you from getting stuck. If you keep trusting him beyond your limitations, keep doing what he tells you to do, even though it’s really hard, and stay with it week after week, month after month, and year after year, you’ll become stronger than you ever dreamed.