The leisure centre in Goldthorpe has been undergoing transformation over the past few weeks, with the main reception area out of bounds and users having to access the gym or swimming pool via a variety of other doors. It is always interesting to see a work in progress (especially when you’re not actually involved in the work…), even if it’s mildly inconvenient!
On Sunday, the new gym was opened in a different studio that is much more spacious and has a much wider range of equipment. I remember doing assemblies in that room when it was the school gym and the main hall was booked up, and the transformation is incredible. On the walls are a number of imperatives designed to keep us working hard (‘Be energetic! Be inspired! Be motivated!), but more interestingly, two statements adorn each end wall.
The first says ‘The body can endure almost anything. You just have to convince the mind.’ As someone who came reluctantly to exercise late in life, I can testify to the truth of that statement. As with all aspects of life, the mind controls what we do and exercise is as much a mental activity as it is physical. Often, we want to give up; we don’t want to push ourselves; we settle for the comfortable and the mediocre rather than pressing on. Paul remains our guide in this: ‘Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.‘ (Phil 3:12-14) He reminds us of the need for self-discipline: ‘Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.‘ (1 Cor 9:24-27) If determination and a good mental attitude are critical to physical exercise, how much more so do we need these in our spiritual lives!
The second statement says ‘If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.’ Again, I find this statement profoundly true. Our attitudes are crucial to how we view life. Paul urges us ‘Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.‘ (Col 3:2-4) Often, we have negative attitudes and low vision and as a result see only the ‘downside’ of everything and the faults in other people. If we train ourselves to think biblically, we find that visions penetrate appearances. Not only do we see things and people differently, the fact that we are learning to put on Christ means He is able to use us to change situations in ways we could never before have imagined.