I'm in that season of life when it's so important to keep stretching. What happens when we don’t stretch? Nothing. For a while. We feel good. We think stretching is just for yoga girls and old folks. Then we wake up one day and there's a slight pain in our lower back or legs. Nothing major. "Ouch", we say, as we roll out of bed. Maybe we lean over and touch our toes, which, coincidentally are very far from the tips of our fingers. It helps a bit, so we forget about it. But then we notice that after sitting at our desk or even the dinner table, our lower back is aching. We try to stretch it out. Maybe we put our hands on our lower back and do the old man, "Tim Conway" shuffle. But once we're back at it, we forget about it again. Then, one day we start our day again, and this time, it's hard to walk OR breathe. It feels like our back has completely gone out of place. Something's wrong.
WHAT HAPPENED?
At this point, we just think we need to schedule an appointment with our chiropractor. We think, “A little adjustment will do the trick." But, actually, we need to make some daily adjustments to our life. If we continue to stretch and MOVE, stretching can help improve flexibility. Better flexibility improves our performance at work and decreases our risk of injuries by helping our joints move and enabling our muscles to work most effectively. Stretching also increases blood flow to the muscle.
THAT commercial was for STRETCHING OUR BODIES!
BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR SPIRITUAL MUSCLES?
WHAT HAPPENED?
We stopped stretching our faith, our joy, our hope, our relationship with God. We put him at the bottom of the priority totem pole, instead of being at THE TOP. Time with Him that guarantees being stretched in our commitment to Him and His Word has become almost nonexistent. The fact is, we must ALWAYS be in the stretching mode with God to guarantee strong faith.
Hebrews 11:6: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those WHO DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM."
Faith is absolutely central to our walk with God. We enter into a relationship with Him through faith and this verse tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is a big deal!
As we all take this "stretching" message to heart, soul AND body today, let's stretch our bodies and our faith. Just like physical stretching isn't easy, neither is spiritual stretching. Stretching requires us to push beyond our normal level of comfort and ease. But, in the long run of success in living the abundant life God wants us to have, we must be continually STRETCHING to be the best US we can be!
