I hate exercising.

No, really. Seriously. With a passion. My mother says I'm her laziest child when it comes to physical fitness. My siblings participated in track and field, basketball, and swimming-always on the go. My mother exercises when she's at WORK. I mean, really, that's ridiculous...uhhmm...I mean, serious dedication. My father looks at least 10 years younger than he actually is. Partly due to genetics and mostly due to his fitness habits that started back in his younger days. But me? Naw, honey. I might walk to the park every couple of months and every other week I walk across the street to my favorite Chinese restaurant. Maybe.

Funny thing is, though, when I sit snuggled up on my couch, and those infomercials for various exercise programs come on, I get a little jealous. Surprised, even. They show these before and after photos of people that look insane. Reports of people dropping pounds and dress/pant sizes like nobody's business. I think, "Man, I'm not even that big! Why can't I lose the 5 lbs that I've been wishing away for the past 6 months?"

Although my gene pool has been somewhat kind to me, that will only get me part of the way. There will come a time when no matter what my DNA says, it's going to take work and sheer dedication to get and keep myself where I need to.

Of course, this is not unlike our walks with God. Reaping the rewards of a life of service to Him requires just that: a life of service. If we want to be spiritually fit, we have to be willing to dive into His Word and spend time in His presence, sow into our spirit-man. We have to be willing to take up our cross and not grow weary in doing what we know we must. True service isn't always a glamorous, comfortable task. But the Word promises that it will pay off in the end if we choose to not give up.

"The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

- Galatians 6:8,9

The other day I was flipping through my Bible and came across a passage in Acts 10 that I hadn't paid much attention to before. It was about Cornelius, a centurion in the Italian Regiment. During his prayer time, he was given a vision from the Lord. Through this vision, he came to meet Simon Peter and became confirmation that Peter was to begin sharing the gospel, not only with the Jews, but with the Gentiles as well. Cornelius turned out to be an instrumental man. For the scripture to include an explanation of the kind of man Cornelius was may not have been necessary. It shared, as in many other passages, the sort of person God uses to advance Kingdom business. Acts 10:2 says of Cornelius: "He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly." Seems simple enough, I know. But if Cornelius was the kind of man who sought the Lord on occasion, instead of a regular basis, we may never have learned about him.

More importantly, God would've had to confirm His desire to Peter in spite of Cornelius' prayer life instead of because of it, working around Cornelius instead of through him. Regrettably, it's so easy to fall into the trap of doing the bare minimum and expecting God to do great things in us, with us and through us (I, for one, am guilty).

In Christendom, we seem to quote Jeremiah 29:11 quite a bit. In fact, I do. It gives me a tingle to remember that God has plans for my life. That, because of God's grace and sovereignty, through us, great things can be done.

" 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Jeremiah 29:11-13

I give myself a pat on the back and a complimentary "You go, girl!" and I feel good. I almost forget that there is so much more to that scripture than God's half of the deal. Verse 13 says that if we look for Him with ALL OUR HEARTS, we will find Him. So, if I'm half-steppin' it, that's just not going to reap the harvest I'm wanting? I'm going to have to put in work. If I want great things from God and to be trusted to do great things for Him, I'm going to have to come strong; as if I'm really hungry for Him.

Our God of never-failing love, patience, and mercy wants to do some big things with us. He wants His plans to be fulfilled in our lives, but He wants us to seek Him, as well. We've got to become those laborers that Luke 10:2 says are so few! I gotta get RIGHT! So much easier said than done, I know. But the prospect of being used by Christ is way too tempting for me to pass up.

I challenge you to put in the energy required for true intimacy in God. You will find yourself in a place of spiritual fitness that will be a blessing both for you and for the Kingdom.

Well that does it: I'm going to look into renewing my gym membership ASAP!

Shari Grant is a Registered Nurse in South Florida, where she was raised in a (very!) Jamaican home. Some of the loves of her life are words (both reading and writing them) and missions work. She enjoys spending time with friends and family while living for a good laugh - one that makes her belly ache and her eyes water. Her bottom line goal in life is to make the Lord smile and maybe even serve Him up a chuckle from time to time, too.