Have you heard of P90x, the "extreme home fitness" system? Recently, my wife Tamica and I have been using the program and thinking a lot about fitness and being healthy. Before each workout, the instructor (Tony Horton) challenges us to "BRING IT" in big red letters. He's tells us, "Keep pushing play," which means keep showing up in spite of how you feel . Command yourself to eat right and workout and you'll see results. Having done this workout and nutrition plan faithfully over the last few months, I can say it definitely works.
Have you ever seen the "The Biggest Loser" TV show? Overweight contestants compete to lose the most weight through a nutrition and exercise regimen. The trainers challenge them to accomplish things they didn't think possible. As a result we see these amazing before and after photos like from last season's winner, Danni Allen who went from 258 to 137 lbs (over 46% of her body weight).
I believe that the premise for reaching spiritual fitness is the same. It's found in the following passage:
Bless the LORD, O my soul
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul
and forget not all his benefits
Psalm 103:1-2
The psalmist (David) issues a command to himself: "Bless the LORD, O my soul and all that is within me." First, the command is addressed to the spiritual part of himself — his soul. Then, he addresses the rest of himself — "and all that is within me, bless his holy name." David reminds himself that God's character, "his holy name" is worthy of our worship all the time. His holiness is an attribute that sets him apart from anyone or anything else. Whenever you see LORD as all capitals in the Bible it means that YHWH — the unique name of the God of the covenant — is being invoked in a worshipful way.
This verse speaks to me because some days I don't feel like blessing the LORD. I'm tired and discouraged about issues of life. But David's response to times like that is to say to his soul and to ours "I will bless his holy name." He chooses to "keep pushing play" (just like Tony Horton). Spiritually speaking, I am to bring it ! Bring my soul to the place where I honor the LORD when I don't feel like it. That's what brings the results of extreme spiritual fitness. That's how we can become the biggest loser — dropping spiritual dead weight like pride, anger, and lust that so easily burden and hold me down.
In the next verse, David repeats, "Bless the LORD, O my soul and forget not His benefits." He then goes through a list of the benefits: healing, forgiveness, redemption, justice, mercy, and a host of others. When I don't feel like blessing the LORD, I pull out my journal and read about His activity in my life and how he has pulled us repeatedly out of each pit we've ever faced.
David's not talking about empty ritual where we feel condemnation because we got up late and didn't have a devotional time. He's talking about a perspective and lifestyle that decides, commits, and therefore succeeds in worshiping the LORD.
The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4:7c-8:
" ... train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."
The only way to see the results of extreme spiritual fitness is to train ourselves to worship and honor God each day. When we do, others will notice our spiritual before and after photos.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Just command yourself. Decide — I will worship God today, come what may.
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