God’s Gym – Part I
God’s Goal
Scripture Reading: James 1:2-4
Key Verse: James 1:4
So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
The title for this month’s devotional is “Kingdom Fitness”. I am playing off the title of the workout gym known as “Planet Fitness”.
Christ-followers believe that physical fitness has value, but Kingdom Fitness has eternal value that is far, far greater than physical fitness.
The idea of God having a “gym” for us to get in shape is a wonderful way to look at how the Kingdom of God works.
The first connection to this idea is the way that people enter a gym. No one forces us to go into a Planet Fitness. So it is with God’s Kingdom: we walk into God’s Kingdom with our own free will.
The second connection to this idea is the reason that people go into a gym. People go into Planet Fitness hoping to improve their health and physical fitness. Why do people walk into God’s Kingdom?
Those that walk into God’s Kingdom as new believers do so because they have come to believe that they have a deep need for God. As new believers grow and get stronger in their faith, they see greater and greater results of their decision to accept God’s invitation.
The third connection to this idea is common goals for people. The Planet Fitness mission statement is: “to enhance people’s lives by providing a high-quality fitness experience in a welcoming, non-intimidating environment, which we call the Judgement Free Zone…”.
Our Key Verse for this month is from the Book of James:
So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:4).
God’s goal, or His mission, for you is that your spiritual walk is perfect and complete, and that you need nothing else. Does this seem like it is an unreachable goal? Good news: God’s goal comes with His provision to help you to achieve it.
As you start this year, I hope you find this daily devotional helpful in getting into the shape that God wants for you! Like a good workout at Planet Fitness, there will be tough times when you wonder if you can continue in your walk with God.
But tough times and troubles in life are really “God’s Gym”. He uses tough times and troubles to get us to be perfect and complete, so that we need nothing! Just like when it hurts because of our physical workouts, we can have thoughts of giving up our walk with God. But we cannot get in shape if we are unwilling to endure some pain.
God never gives you more than you can take, and He uses all things to make us better people that blesses us and others!
Father, help me to better follow You and Your instructions for my life this year. In Jesus’s Name, amen.