Training hard

PABLO MORALES is one the best swimmers in recent decades. Not just because he won silver in the 100m butterfly in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, but also for something a lot harder. He retired from the sport in 1998 but then made a come-back and went on to take gold in Barcelona in 1992. One of the keys in this sport is patience. Surely covering many miles a day in a swimming pool must be one of the most boring things on earth! If you don't think so, get to the pool and swim as far as you can and see for yourself how bored you get!

The secret of success in most sports is the same: train hard. Behind each trophy, every gold, every prize is the constant reminder of days and days spent training, stretching, pushing, and perhaps not without a few tears.

We may think that our spiritual life is different: only two or three minutes a day to do the exercises, go through the routines - sorted. But that's not the way it is. I'm sorry to say, people, but the secret's the same. Paul explained it very clearly to his mate Timothy: 'Train yourself...'

And the expression 'train yourself' is not chosen lightly. Indeed, it's chosen wisely. For life itself is one big exercise and it's as if we're all in a big school. A prep. school for the future where we learn to develop the character of Christ, to be under the control of the Holy Spirit and to obey God our Father. Life is a school with plenty of exams where our marks will determine our future role in heaven.

You know what? When we get to eternity there's no room for improvement. 

Growth will have come to a stop, as will character development and the search for wisdom. When we get to heaven we will be given a 'job' for which we are suited; nothing more, nothing less. If we've skipped classes here we won't be ready for the great undertakings of the government of the Universe. If our knowledge of God hasn't improved on this earth, little good will it do claiming our alleged right to some responsible position in heaven. Let us not fool ourselves, the more we enjoy God here, the more we'll enjoy him in heaven.

We must train ourselves. Spiritual training in devotion to God means reading his word daily to get to know him better. Such training is praying, praising God for who he is... and what he has done for us. It is witnessing, serving others, learning from them, living in fellowship with other believers.

Undergoing spiritual training in our devotion to God means letting our character be moulded to Christ's image, allowing our lives to come under the control of the Holy Spirit, that all might see in us the love of the Father.

Yes, we need to get trained up. We need to train hard.