I try to workout at the gym everyday. So varying my exercise routine, or cross training, can help me stay physically challenged. Experts tell us, if we do not modify our exercise routine, our body adapts to the repetitive training within six to eight weeks, and we will most often reach a fitness plateau. It’s much easier, however, to keep doing what’s familiar, what’s comfortable.
There is a common propensity we all share to live comfortably, risk little, and reject change. We say, “Lord, I like things just the way they are, thank you! Don’t come in and mess things up. I have a good life, good kids, a nice home, a steady income. Don’t rock the boat. Don’t ask more of me than I’m willing to give.”
Jesus’ words in Matt. 16:25, 26, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (NIV). Those words challenge our desire that life go according to our expectations and our efforts to keep life under control as much as possible. Jesus called us to a life of faith, while what we really want is a life that is manageable and predictable.
It is the classic struggle of every Christian man and woman: to take God at his word and risk what we have in exchange for what might be. It means releasing the death hold on our dreams and our carefully constructed lives, cherished as they are, to receive the abundant life Jesus died to give us.
Gail Johnsen 