Use Fitness to Witness for Jesus
I'll give you a couple of examples to show you exactly what I mean and how it may happen during your workout routine. A couple of months ago there was a middle aged woman who was doing her ab workout on the declined bench next to me. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed her watching my exercise, which was the Russian Twist, where you hold a medicine ball or weight and twist from side to side. After I completed my repetitions she asked me exactly what portion of the abs the exercise targeted, which lead to a 15 to 20 minute conversation of her telling me her fitness goals; she was a very nice about everything, but kind of killed my pump haha.
The next occurrence happened a couple of weeks ago while I was performing a front lateral dumbbell raise, lifting a dumbbell out in front of you. After completing my repetitions and writing down my progress, which is very important by the way, I was approached by a taller average sized young man. His question to me was how to specifically target the side deltoid muscles, which isn't really all that difficult. So I showed him a few sure fire ways to target the muscles, giving him the details about how to position himself and angle his arms as well; I basically gave him a short personal training lesson, just because I like to help people out who want to reach a certain fitness level.
The last time which I was approached was today, the funny thing is I was hitting the same muscle group, except by using a different exercise, I was holding a barbell and thrusting it straight up with my palms facing inward; with enough weight it targets the front delts incredibly well. Anyway, he wanted to know what this exercise was targeting and I guess looking for a friend who came regularly. We exchanged names and both went about our workouts, but coincidentally crossed paths again before he left. He kind of threw out the idea that we work out together sometime, and being a nice Christian with a friendly attitude I said that would be alright with me. Now, do I think he'll actually follow through, not necessarily, many people just enjoy making small talk at the gym and giving themselves a morale boost; but I guess we'll see huh?
As I walked into the locker room, God threw a revelation out to me, "Your fitness doesn't only have to affect you, it can be used to affect others as well." Allow me to continue on the basic idea of what I started in the opening paragraph, which was talking about fitness levels and being approached with questions. I've noticed quite often over the years, and I'm guilty of this myself, that many people who go to the gym will approach the bigger, more built guys, with all kinds of questions and seeking to workout with them. After God opened my eyes to this juicy little piece of knowledge, I gave it this little slogan, "fitness to witness"; which I'll now think about and live by each time I step foot in the gym.
Look at it this way, not only do I now have my personal goals to work towards, but now I also have a secondary reason for pushing myself to new levels. God knows I have an incredible love and enjoyment for building muscle, which He can use and turn into a method used to witness to others. It may not happen the very first time I talk to someone, but the more that these people approach me and we begin to build friendly relationships, it will leave a door open for me to witness to them down the road and even invite them to church with me sometime.
Here's what you should take away from today's lesson, the things that you enjoy in your life, whether it be working out or even something like baking, can be used to reach out to others for Jesus Christ. Think about something you're good at doing or really enjoy, does it ever involve other people or interacting with them in some manner; if not, can it? This cannot only be a door to begin building new friendships with others, but it can also be a gateway to be a witness and spread the Good News. Remember, it doesn't have to happen immediately, you don't always have to witness the first time you meet someone, especially if you see them on a regular basis, ease into it; remember this though, you also don't want to wait too long, because you never know when Christ will return.
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God Bless!
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