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No time like the present

Richard Maffeo

I never thought it would happen. Time was I could do 60 push-ups without breathing hard, bench-press 150 pounds and repetitively curl 80. OK, I was no Arnold Schwarzenegger, but I had no trouble lifting the groceries from the shopping cart to the car. What else does a person need to do?

Then I got lazy. Other responsibilities pressed in, and before long 20 minutes set aside each day to pump iron seemed a waste of time. Without realizing it, my strength slowly decreased. It wasn’t until I played football that day with my son that I realized just how much it had decreased.

An errant throw sent the football sailing over the six-foot-high fence in our backyard. Because the horizontal support railings faced our house, climbing the fence required little effort. In a matter of moments, I found the ball and tossed it back into the yard. It was then that I realized I no longer had a foothold. I stared at the dark brown boards and considered my options: walk around the fence (which extended across several lots) or muscle myself over it.

I chose the latter and placed my hands along the fence-top. With a leap, I strained to hoist myself upward, expecting to push my weight high enough to throw my leg over the top. But years of laziness had left me helpless. I could no more pull myself over the fence than fly. Exhausted and a little embarrassed after several attempts, I gave up and walked the block-and-a-half around the fence.

As I reached my front door, a thought crossed my mind. In my 27 years of serving Christ, I’ve met many Christians who used to read their Bibles every day. Although never the Arnold Schwarzeneggers of Bible knowledge, they memorized God’s Word, underlined passages and wrote notes in the margins. Then, for various reasons, they got lazy. The responsibilities of raising a family, employment, keeping house – and even church activities – took their toll, and, without them realizing it, their Bibles remained closed for days . . . weeks . . . years.

It is easy to let physical exercise slip so long that we don’t realize how weakened we have become until we face an obstacle which, in earlier days, would have proven easy to overcome. It is also easy to let spiritual exercise slip so long that we don’t realize how weakened we have become until we face an obstacle – a temptation or life-storm – which, in earlier days, would have proven easy to overcome but is now nearly insurmountable.

As I walked into the house, I determined to rebuild what I had lost. The next day, I began a new exercise program, resolved to once again – at the very least – be able to scale a six-foot fence. I knew I would not regain my strength in a day. It would take patience, consistency and determination. But there was no time like the present to begin.

Likewise, those who desire to rebuild spiritual muscles should know it will take time, patience and determination to regain what has been lost. But, considering the obstacles any of us might face in the future, is there a better time than the present to begin again?

Richard Maffeo is a freelance writer from San Diego, Calif.

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Last modified November 16, 2000.

© 2000 Mennonite Brethren Herald.
Published by the Canadian Conference of MB Churches.
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