And One... And Two... And Stretch

“This is what the LORD says: ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the LORD.”
Jeremiah 9:23-24

How is your exercise plan going? Are you feeling strong and confident? How about your faith -are you exercising it? Are you feeling the strength and confidence of the LORD? Are you allowing Him to stretch you? Ok, I can hear the groans from here and mumbling about “having been stretched enough” - but have we really been stretched enough? Do we attempt to exercise kindness or justice or righteousness or generosity or understanding and love the way the Lord does?

When it comes to physical exercise stretching is important – it gets the muscles ready for work and helps to prevent injury as you do your workout. Our faith needs to be stretched too. We can choose to stretch it ourselves by studying God’s word, praying, loving and caring for one another and being obedient to His call. Sometimes though – like a good personal trainer God may decide we need some help with our faith stretches. His stretches may not be as comfortable as the ones we normally do – but the flexibility we gain will make us stronger in the long run.

Ok - so are you ready? And one… and two… and stretch…and stretch a little more – ok good. Now get out there and practice being Jesus to those around you – do the things that He would do. Show the world that you know and understand Him and what kinds of things delight him.

A prayer
Father – You know that most of us don’t exercise our bodies or our faith enough. Thank you for those times when you stretch us – we might not always like it, but we are better for it when You are done. This week help us to stretch ourselves by reflecting Your Son to the world around us and it is in His name we pray, Amen.