Taylor and I just returned from a workout on the track and in the weight room. We ran some sprints and then did a leg work out. The sweat beaded up on our foreheads and began to soak our shirts and we pounded the track sprint after sprint.
In the weight room we did a leg work out followed by some abdominal exercises. The abdominal work out is never fun and we usually save it for the last. It consists of a series of exercises done in rapid fire succession without rest until the whole series is done. After a short rest we repeat the whole cycle. Today we decided we would three different series of abdominal work.
By this time our shirts looked we had been rinsed off with a water hose. It was after 8:00 p.m. and we were starving. After we finished the second series of torso work, I looked over at Taylor and smiled saying, “The last set. I love it when we get to the last set.” The last set means the end is in sight, victory is within grasp, and the goal has almost been attained.
You may notice I said the goal has almost been attained. Many times when we come to the last set of anything in life it is like facing a fork in the road. Some people face the last set of work, school, work outs, service for God and just want to finish the task. In our fatigue it is awfully tempting to give less than our best effort on the last set. The path is the path of finishing the last set with all the energy we have left. Either way a choice has to be made about how you finish the last set.
Many of you who are reading this are facing the last set. It might be in your marriage, with your children, dealing with difficulties at work, or in completing some task you set out with gusto to accomplish. I have seen many people cash it in on the last set. Instead of reaching down deep and finishing the last set with determination and grit many are contented to go through the motions or worse yet to be content without finishing the last set all together.
Much can be determined about people if you watch how they finish the last set. I have watched many athletes and people in the arena of life simply quit when the going got hard. Even when the end was in sight and rest along with refueling were in sight, more than one has opted to throw in the towel and walk away without finishing the last set.
I’ll be honest with you. The Christian life is hard. The temptations are relentless. The trials bombard us unceasingly. The tests of faith seem innumerable. The challenge is to finish the last set in prayer, the last set in Bible study, in loving people who do not always act lovingly, and the conquest to believe God for the impossible. All of these things are down right wearying. Who has not been tempted to take the path of least resistance and coast to the finish if we even have the gumption to finish at all? The last set of anything can be extremely difficult and our energy reserves are usually depleted at this point. In the Christian life the path is not always rosy with strewn with picnics and scenic benches. It is more like war or a marathon and the going is often HARD!
As Taylor I faced our last set, I thought about taking it easy but then I looked at a ten pound weight I was using for one of the exercises lying on the floor and I thought about the very last exercise. You get in a seated position with your legs held out in front of you slightly bent about six to twelve inches off the floor and then alternate swiveling your arms from side to side across your torso while holding your feet slightly off the ground. We had done two sets with just our arms but then the thought crossed my mind, why not hold the ten pound weight in my hands and do the workout making it more difficult on the last set. I refused to listen to my body that wanted to take the easy way out and follow the course of lesser difficulty. It was hard but I finished the last set the hard way and though my muscles screamed for relief, the sense of satisfaction is hard to convey.
I see working out as a metaphor for the Christian life. Time and time again you and I are going to face last sets. Football players do so running sprints. Basketball players do so running lines at the end of practices. Wives do it washing dishes and folding laundry over and over again. Men do it getting up over and over again to go to work no matter how exhausted they are. Mothers face the last set when the infant wakes up in the middle of the night needing to be fed or the child wakes up nauseous in the wee hours of the morning. Teachers face the last set at end of every school day and the end of every school year. How you finish your last set no matter how exhausted you feel may very well help you when it comes to finishing the last set of your life. Like a track athlete at the end of the race who finds a little extra kick to propel him to the finish line, so we should strive to finish the last set of our lives at a full gait. We have all of eternity to rest and recover. [Heb 12:1]
In the weight room we did a leg work out followed by some abdominal exercises. The abdominal work out is never fun and we usually save it for the last. It consists of a series of exercises done in rapid fire succession without rest until the whole series is done. After a short rest we repeat the whole cycle. Today we decided we would three different series of abdominal work.
By this time our shirts looked we had been rinsed off with a water hose. It was after 8:00 p.m. and we were starving. After we finished the second series of torso work, I looked over at Taylor and smiled saying, “The last set. I love it when we get to the last set.” The last set means the end is in sight, victory is within grasp, and the goal has almost been attained.
You may notice I said the goal has almost been attained. Many times when we come to the last set of anything in life it is like facing a fork in the road. Some people face the last set of work, school, work outs, service for God and just want to finish the task. In our fatigue it is awfully tempting to give less than our best effort on the last set. The path is the path of finishing the last set with all the energy we have left. Either way a choice has to be made about how you finish the last set.
Many of you who are reading this are facing the last set. It might be in your marriage, with your children, dealing with difficulties at work, or in completing some task you set out with gusto to accomplish. I have seen many people cash it in on the last set. Instead of reaching down deep and finishing the last set with determination and grit many are contented to go through the motions or worse yet to be content without finishing the last set all together.
Much can be determined about people if you watch how they finish the last set. I have watched many athletes and people in the arena of life simply quit when the going got hard. Even when the end was in sight and rest along with refueling were in sight, more than one has opted to throw in the towel and walk away without finishing the last set.
I’ll be honest with you. The Christian life is hard. The temptations are relentless. The trials bombard us unceasingly. The tests of faith seem innumerable. The challenge is to finish the last set in prayer, the last set in Bible study, in loving people who do not always act lovingly, and the conquest to believe God for the impossible. All of these things are down right wearying. Who has not been tempted to take the path of least resistance and coast to the finish if we even have the gumption to finish at all? The last set of anything can be extremely difficult and our energy reserves are usually depleted at this point. In the Christian life the path is not always rosy with strewn with picnics and scenic benches. It is more like war or a marathon and the going is often HARD!
As Taylor I faced our last set, I thought about taking it easy but then I looked at a ten pound weight I was using for one of the exercises lying on the floor and I thought about the very last exercise. You get in a seated position with your legs held out in front of you slightly bent about six to twelve inches off the floor and then alternate swiveling your arms from side to side across your torso while holding your feet slightly off the ground. We had done two sets with just our arms but then the thought crossed my mind, why not hold the ten pound weight in my hands and do the workout making it more difficult on the last set. I refused to listen to my body that wanted to take the easy way out and follow the course of lesser difficulty. It was hard but I finished the last set the hard way and though my muscles screamed for relief, the sense of satisfaction is hard to convey.
I see working out as a metaphor for the Christian life. Time and time again you and I are going to face last sets. Football players do so running sprints. Basketball players do so running lines at the end of practices. Wives do it washing dishes and folding laundry over and over again. Men do it getting up over and over again to go to work no matter how exhausted they are. Mothers face the last set when the infant wakes up in the middle of the night needing to be fed or the child wakes up nauseous in the wee hours of the morning. Teachers face the last set at end of every school day and the end of every school year. How you finish your last set no matter how exhausted you feel may very well help you when it comes to finishing the last set of your life. Like a track athlete at the end of the race who finds a little extra kick to propel him to the finish line, so we should strive to finish the last set of our lives at a full gait. We have all of eternity to rest and recover. [Heb 12:1]
Pastor Matt,
ReplyDeleteI have a very real need. I've tried unsuccessfully to find a sitter and the few I haVe found (young girls) we go through quickly. WE have 4 very active boys the oldest being 13 and the youngest 2 (twins) are 6. I believe that the Lord has lead me to look for a young man in highschool to watch our boys. I've tried to find one myself...by calling both Bridgeport and Paradise highschools and your church and Grace Fellowship, but there was no repsonse. So I'm trying to go straight to the "top" and see if I can get help. I want the young man to Love the Lord that is the most important thing to me....and what highschooler would love to just hang out and play with 4 boys and get paid? As a father yourself...I'm sure you know the real need to get away and have "date nights" or alone time with your spouse....and ours have been few and far between since moving to TX 3 1/2 yrs ago....I would sooooo appreciate any help you could give me.
Thank you,
Maria Franks