Are You (like me!) TOO much like Peter?
I was convicted this morning when doing my daily devotions.
I realized that I am TOO much like Peter
In the New Testament book of Luke there is this story of
Jesus getting arrested. Peter, one of his “closest” disciples, follows at a
distance. He apparently wants to see what happens to Jesus and, sort of, be
there for him.
So he mixes in with some of the locals around a campfire
within a stones-throw of where Jesus is in custody with the soldiers who
arrested him.
But then a few of the bystanders think they recognize Peter as a companion of Jesus and put the pressure on. So Peter denies even knowing him, not just
once, but three times!
Then, as Jesus predicted, the cock crowed.
In a way, that’s been ME. Not so much in regard to
Jesus. I AM a pastor after all and am deeply grateful for the grace and mercy
of our Lord.
But I’ve had this secondary calling in my life for a few
years now and I’ve really never fully claimed it.
It’s a calling to help my fellow brothers and sisters in
Christ take better care of the body that God has given them.
I mean, even if you’re not too cracked up about the
particular body God gave you, it’s still a gift to have a body. Right?
And the best way to thank God for any gift (including your
body) is to use it! To keep it healthy. To care for it as if it were precious! Anything else is, well, kinda rude!
Besides, the vast majority of prayer requests I've received over the years have been for health! Yet few of us actually live in a way that nurtures good health.
But back to me and my own "struggle" for a moment.
I’ve been “following” and admiring various people over the
years who have taken their passion for helping others with fitness and
developed little businesses that really do enable them to help others.
Several of them, knowing that I've got my own quality system, have encouraged and beckoned me to do the same...to get my own system out there where it can be helping people.
But I’ve never really gotten serious about taking what I’ve been blessed to
learn about fitness and really focus on sharing it with those who could use it
most!
Which is silly because what I have developed really works
and with over 2/3 of the American population overweight or obese (and with
Christians being 14% more likely than the general population to be overweight
or obese), lots of people could really use it. Maybe even you.
Yet every time one of the fitness gurus I know (and by now I
know quite a few of them) asks me how I’m doing with getting my fitness system
into the hands of those who need it most, well, like Peter, I basically start spouting off various forms of denial.
I tell them the “Salespage” isn’t quite the way I want it.
Or that I should re-do the basement so the videos will look like what you see
on TV infomercials. Yada yada yada.
So even though I became certified personal trainer and have a fitness
system I developed that can be done at home or anywhere, is adaptable to
beginner, intermediate, and advanced fitness levels, is based on the latest
science and has kept me in some of the best shape of my life for over 4 years
now and I’ve basically kept it to myself.
Even though I’ve got plenty of first-hand testimonials, scientific
support, and the like, my 9-Minute workout system is
basically a best-kept secret.
That's been me. Now let's swing back to you!
I wonder if perhaps you’re a little bit
like Peter too.
How often have you "followed" fitness posts and articles and programs without actually doing them?
How often have you read posts about this healthy recipe or
that? About this workout system or that? But yet not really applied any of it
consistently to your own life?
How often have you been impressed by friends who suddenly
seem to act like they really are thankful for the body God gave them? Who don’t
mind getting up a little earlier or being just a little more dedicated to
health? And yet you’ve hung back…
Are you, like Peter, one who has been ‘following’ fitness at
a distance?
Are you sort of hiding in the camp-fire shadows, too embarrassed
or perhaps even too scared to be seen as someone who is finally going to claim
a healthy relationship with your body? a
Look, we all have things we need to work on. In some ways
it’s my own lack of confidence that’s been holding me back from using the gifts
that God has given me. Today I’m taking one step toward changing that, toward
TRUSTING that God has already given me what I need to be helpful to others and
to grow myself.
I wonder if on this Independence day you can take a step too!
There are a zillion systems out there to take better care of
the body God gave you. Almost any system is better than no system. Feel free to
check them out.
For me, 9 minutes a day is all the time I’m willing to spend
on fitness because it's basically excuse-proof and works!
After all, the only exercises that are effective are the
ones you consistently do.
I do it five days a week, usually right away in the morning.
That’s just 45 minutes of exercise for the whole week!
But it’s enough to keep me in great shape!
And I’m not some ‘youngin’ either.
This month I’ll turn 54.
Today I’m going to start tearing down the old building pictured below myself. Why? Because it needs to be done AND because by the grace of God I’m
still quite physically capable of doing it!
There will be lots of prying with crow-bars, hammering with
a sledge, carrying wood here and there and who knows what else.
No matter. I can do it. Every day, in just 9 minutes of
focused exercise that includes strategic periods of rest, I work out my upper
body, lower body, core, and heart and lungs. I’m well-prepared for the physical
challenges before me.
Imagine what could be possible if you were to stop
“following at a distance” the people who invite you to a healthier way of life
and start “joining” them!
As a pastor I've spent enough time in hospitals and funeral homes to realize that some things about health are beyond our control. But I also know from my study of all things health that we can dramatically swing odds into our favor by just USING the body God gave us in healthy ways.
To stop "following" and start "doing" and "joining."
Listen, you weren’t created to be like Peter. You were
created to be YOU!
And I’d like to help you find and claim the God-given YOU that, perhaps, has been
hiding…BEFORE the cock crows in your life!
To your fitness of body and soul,
Kent
P.S. Remember when I said that I’m not quite happy with the
wording on my salespage for my fitness system? Well, that’s still true. I think
it’s too long and too drawn out and doesn’t have quite the right tone. But
those are just excuses. Truth be told, the buy-now links at the bottom of the
page still work! So if you’d like 18 follow-along at-home workouts led by me
that take just 9-minutes/day, just go to www.9minutes2fit.com,
scroll to the bottom and click one of the buy-now buttons and get started
today! You can make my day…and yours…at the same time!
