Time to Get Active
Time to Get Active
So, I had this grand idea to purchase His & Her Fitbits as a Valentine’s Day gift for my Tom. Just in case you are unsure what a Fitbit is – it is a band you wear on your wrist that tracks your steps, calories burned, sleep patterns, etc. I thought…this will be fun! It is something we can do together. It is time to get active. You see, I have…hmm…gained…you know…hmm...fluff over the past couple of years. I have written it off to the fact that I am getting older; skinny just doesn’t run in my family and life is too short to starve. That is the way I have rationalized it.
So, Tom and I set up our Fitbits. We encouraged our friends to get them and connected ours to some of our friends who already have them. We can now challenge each other and make logging in our steps a great game. So…day one I go about my morning and check my steps. What is wrong? My Fitbit must not be working. I tap on it and it appears all is well. I continue with my day and again check my Fitbit. Something is definitely wrong – where are my steps? Again…I began to rationalize…my Fitbit must be defective. What did I do with the packaging? I am going to need it to return this crazy thing to the store.
Then reality sets in. I have been rationalizing my weight gain and my Fitbit’s lack of step accumulation. But then I remembered hearing our friend Dr. Charles Lowery say that when we rationalize we are telling our self rational lies. And I realized…this is exactly what I have been doing. I have been offering up a reasonable explanation and accepting it as truth. However, I now realize the problem has nothing to do with my age. It is not my genetics. My Fitbit is not broken. The truth is my status has been downgraded to…INACTIVE.
Yikes! I stay busy. I am always busy – so busy. My plate is full. Yet – my busy is usually spent in a sitting position. I am not engaging in physical activity. I have become sedentary. So…I am determined to figure this out. I have got to log in these steps – at least 10,000 a day. It is time to get active. So, I am working “steps” into my busy schedule. The challenge is on. Hmmm….anybody know how to attach my laptop to my treadmill? I am committed to engage and upgrade my status to ACTIVE.
That makes me think about our faith. What is our status? Are we actively living out our faith? Or has our status been downgraded to INACTIVE? Be careful! Don’t allow yourself to start rationalizing. Remember, those are just rational lies. We, as Christians are called to live a life of faith. But…are we?
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Faith is more than just mere belief. The Bible tells us that even the demons believe that God is real. So what is faith? Faith is trust. Faith is dependence. Faith is relying on God. He needs to be what guides and directs our steps. He needs to be what drives our purpose. He needs to be what sustains us. Is He? Or are we guiding and directing our steps to achieve our plans? Be honest. It hurts – but it is worth it. What we acknowledge – we can change. It is time to get active and live out our faith. Let’s put tennis shoes on those beliefs we claim to believe and walk in them.
Are we logging time spent with our Creator? What would our Faith Fitbit read? Would we be shocked? Are we committed to waking up and spending time with Him first? How much time? Do we take 3 minutes to read our devo and say a quick prayer? Or do we truly spend time with Him? Do we find a place where we can read our devotional, look up the scriptures, study His word, allow Him to speak to us and speak with Him through our prayers? Are we engaging in seeking Him? How much time? Enough time? Would we be embarrassed if we saw a printout of the minutes we spend engaged with our Savior? You know, the One who bore our shame, became our sin and died a horrific death on a cross for us? Oh yeah…Him. Are we making time for Him? It is time to get active – actively seeking Him.
Are we engaging in activity that will upgrade our status? Proverbs 3:4-6 says…
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.”
What is this scripture telling us? It is telling us to engage in the activity of trusting God with all our heart. We must stop trusting, depending, and relying on our self. We are not trustworthy. He is. In all our ways we are to acknowledge Him. This means we are to observe the Lord and get to know Him. You see, the more and more we understand who He is and what He has done for us – the closer we will draw to Him. We will come to understand that we are fools and can only fail without Him. But by engaging and logging in our steps with Him – He will guide and direct our steps and take us down the path He has prepared for us. Remember that AW Tozer quote….
“When God is exalted to His proper place in our lives, a thousand problems are solved.”
That one quote says so much. No more rationalizing what is wrong with our lives. Instead let’s get busy exalting Him to His proper place. He is our answer. Let’s upgrade our faith status to ACTIVE. Get active - walking with him. Get active - seeking Him. Get active - engaging our faith and trusting Him to direct our steps…every single one. It is time to get active.
We can do this!