If you, like me, attended public school between 1966 and 2012, then you likely remember sweating, grunting, and groaning through the Presidential Physical Fitness Test —
A grueling, gym-class ordeal that demanded sit-ups, pull-ups, a long-distance run, and several other selected feats of pubescent strength and agility.
For the athletically inclined it was a chance to shine: Kids who scored in the top 15 percent received a Presidential Physical Fitness Award, which included a certificate suitable for framing and a navy-blue and gold patch for mom to sew on your sweatshirt or gym shorts as a badge of toughness, grit, and brawn.
For those not gifted, the President Physical Fitness Test stirred fear, dread, and loathing: Proof positive that you simply weren’t cut out to play in the big leagues, much less find your name on the roster of a varsity team or see yourself strutting the hallways in a letterman’s jacket. Anyone else remember hanging motionless from a pull-up bar while the rest of the class giggled and snickered?
President Barack Obama mercifully and compassionately pulled the plug on the fitness test in 2012. But a few decades earlier, filled with Cold War-era fears that Americans were becoming “soft,” President Lyndon Johnson introduced the test to improve the fitness of our nation’s youth – not for the benefit of the beloved home team but for service in the armed forces during the Vietnam War.
Fun fact: The original Presidential Physical Fitness Test included a softball throw, which intended to mimic the tossing of a grenade and thus pre-prepare an eventual recruit for combat!
Nonetheless, handheld explosives notwithstanding, like the Presidential Physical Fitness Test, the season of Lent intends to confront our spiritual “softness” and our puny discipleship – and to prepare us for greater service that lies ahead.
Maybe you experience days – or weeks, or months, or even years – when you don’t feel – much less even act – like the faithful disciple you once were and want to become again. Our sagging human spirits do lean into fatigue and discouragement from time to time. But, no number of off-days or gloomy attitudes changes the Lord’s desire to stand at your side and walk the path of faith together!
Your holy means to that divine end is ridiculously simple: Your relationship with Christ is just like any other tie that binds. The more effort and energy you invest into it, the deeper and richer the relationship will become.
Let me share a few Scriptures to nourish the bodies and strengthen the determination of those training hard for more-muscular service as a sibling of Jesus. Listen to the Word that God has spoken.
From 1 Thessalonians, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (5:16-18)
In other words, a follower of Jesus is only as strong as his or her prayer life.
Author, attorney and clergyman E.M. Bounds once said, “The men [and women] who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He [or she] who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, [God] will be in the last place the remainder of the day.”
So, please make prayer your first priority, at the start of every morning, and at the end of every night. Establish time and space for a daily, personal appointment with the Lord. Better yet, keep the conversation going throughout the day!
From 1 Corinthians, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’ Come to a sober and right mind, and sin no more; for some people have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.” (15:33-34)
Maybe something in your life is stressing you to breaking, leading you away from God, or just simply wasting your time. The hectic chaos of day-to-day living quickly and easily consumes: Work or school, household chores, endless schedules of sports and other extracurriculars, favorite hobbies and activities. So, admit that it’s time to remove something — or someone — from your life!
Stay self-aware by taking frequent inventory of how you spend your time and evaluating what you have done for the Lord recently. How have you loved God as you yourself would want to be loved? How have you likewise loved friend, neighbor, and stranger? Does your moving and being produce spiritual fruit – love, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and the like?
With honest answers in hand, dismiss all such things not beneficial to your walk of faith. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you determine what’s truly important for a follower of Jesus and what isn’t.
From 1 Peter, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that God may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on God, because God cares for you. [As disciples,] discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.” (5:6-8)
As a faithful believer in Christ who relies solely on the grace of his sacrifice, you enjoy salvation through the Holy Spirit. Nonetheless, evil prowls around like a lion, and you must go above and beyond to protect your spiritual walk by setting definitive boundaries against temptation.
You’re surely going to need personal prayer for this one – as well as the power of the Holy Spirit. Because you’re trying to identify those tender spots where you’re weaker or more easily lured. Set firm parameters on what you allow into your mind and heart, and where you allow yourself to go. Maybe our parents really were onto something when they warned we’d be known by the company we keep.
If something – or someone – is hindering your walk with God, I invite you to place a healthy restriction upon that thing – or that one.
From the Psalms, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.” (19:14-20) And from Romans, “So faith comes through hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.” (10:17)
For your walk with God to grow in intimacy and understanding, your communication with God must go both ways. In prayer, you come before the throne of the Lord and speak to him. Then, through God’s Word both living and written, the Holy Spirit delivers the answer. Your discipleship simply cannot and will not mature if you don’t spend time in Scripture.
Begin with a verse each morning. Meditate on it, quote it, and live it. In gradual increments, add more verses — then a chapter or maybe even chapters. Take it verse by verse and step by step, and saturate your heart and soul with the Word of God. You will see your walk grow deeper and richer with each step every day.
Finally, from 2 Corinthians, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
“So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (5:17-21)
Here’s a real stunner: You just might be somebody’s favorite Christian! It’s not so far-fetched to think that someone has considered carefully your lifestyle, your behaviors, and your decisions, and they come to understand that they’d like to be more like you. Simply because of the way you live, move, and breathe!
Now, the reverse also is true: You just maybe could be giving people the wrong impression about Jesus and his Gospel. The public square is rife these days with self-proclaimed teachers of the law who feel no shame in twisting Christian faith toward their own selfish ends. Non-Christians taste the bile of such profanity, see the unfaithful behaviors and attitudes that heresy fosters, and decide for themselves they want nothing to do with Christians or Christianity, or Jesus and his Church, thank you very much!
Remember, at all times and in all spaces, you are an ambassador, a delegate of the one true God in Christ Jesus. Live each day with an urgency to serve the Lord, and don’t be surprised when – by the Holy Spirit – your examples lead others to faith.
Friends, the Lord is standing at your door – knocking, inviting you out for a stroll. Best you and I go, for chances are, we all could use some exercise.
Amen!
Pastor Grant M. VanderVelden shared this message during morning worship on the Second Sunday of Lent, February 25, 2024, at First Presbyterian Church in Waukon, IA, USA.