Getting Fit

Getting Fit

About 6 weeks ago my friend Carrie and I joined a gym. Now there was a long drawn out process before we joined that gym. I kept thinking about how I needed to get fit and exercise more. I made some disorganised attempts such as bike riding more and getting out a lot more during summer but it wasn’t consistent. Carrie kept researching gyms...we live in a country town north of Sydney...it’s full of gyms...She researched into a health programme, a woman’s gym, gym contracts, gym fees, gym promotions, gym offers and she talked to gym owners and instructors. 

Then one day I saw it...the sign!!! It was for Snap Fitness. No contracts...pay fortnightly....not far from home....So Carrie decided to go and talk to the them. What was even more amazing was that it was for normal people like me. When I thought of a gym I always thought of super fit people that look like they spring right out of the pages of a fitness magazine. They have muscles and bounce and eat yoghurt. So Carrie came away with a form to fill in and she was decided. This was finally THE gym. It was about then that I decided to leap on board with the idea. I had been interested in going to the gym but hadn’t said too much to Carrie. So when I made the leap to join with her she was rather surprised. 

We filled in our forms, parted with our money and had time for orientation . It seemed like a friendly place. People did appear normal even though there were a few of those ultra fit magazine type of people bouncing around. It was my first time in a gym ever. There I was standing in this large area filled with equipment I had no idea how to use...I did after orientation...the whole thing was a totally new experience for me. 

 We diligently went regularly and used the equipment and we knew we made a right decision. We worked out relentlessly and we were enjoying some results. We were committed. Then came our free offer. Yes.. when we joined we got one free session with a personal trainer...Charlie. Charlie knew her stuff...she has degrees and experience Internationally. She herself was fit and she just oozed with the love of working out. Charlie wrote out a programme for us and away we went. They say “no pain no gain” and it was a killer of a programme. Carrie and I discovered muscles we never knew existed before. 

However with commitment and diligence to Charlie’s programme I have come to a place where I am fitter, it’s no longer painful, I am enjoying it and I am working out 4-5 times a week. This week Charlie came to us to book another personal training session...free..I love that word..she is planning on taking us to the next level. 

All of this reminds me so much of God...God calls me to make a commitment to Him. To become spiritually fit.  For some of us who have never been in a church before we first went....like going into a gym for the first time..it can all seem so surreal. What goes on here? How does it work? Some people seem super *spiritually* fit...others look really *normal* like me. We can try out the equipment of reading the Bible for ourselves, enjoying Christian music and reading some great books about God and we start on our journey with God but it’s not until we meet up with Jesus our Personal trainer that we can really move forward spiritually. Jesus knows each one of us so personally and He knows what our journey is about and how to reach our hearts and draw us closer to Him. Some times it’s painful as Jesus reveals things in our life that He wants out of our lives or things He wants us to deal with. The end result is totally worth it.

1Timothy 4:8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.