Reflection: For Best Results

"Push it, dig deep, find what you are made of," Tony Horton, creator and teacher of the p90x extreme fitness home workout program says.  "You got to work hard if you want the results!"  I have mentioned before that I enjoy working out and staying in shape, although I will always be an "average joe" when it comes to fitness.  At one point in time I strived for the best results possible, pushing my body beyond the point of exhaustion - and I was getting OK results.

But I wasn't getting the cut figure and six-pack abs that seemed to be promised by the workout program.  Finally, in frustration I screamed to myself, "What am I missing?!  Why am I not getting the results that were promised?!"  I was ready to quit the program and just do my "own thing" when the instruction manuals caught my eye.  The two instruction manuals: one for the workouts, and one for the nutrition program needed for 'best results.' 

I had to laugh at that time.  Of course I wasn't getting the best results, or even close to them!  How many times had I had Taco Bell in the past week?  How much pizza had I eaten?  There was the source of the problem: I was only half committed, I only listened to half of what was commanded, I pick and chose what I wanted to do - and therefore I got less than half the results promised.

I wonder how many of our spiritual lives are like this: weaker, less desirable, boring, and malnourished because we do not fully follow what Scripture teaches, we do not fully follow what the saints and spiritual giants say, we do not fully become invested in Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  We pick and choose when and how often we feel like reading Scripture, when and how often we pray; we skip the spiritual disciplines, we subtly ignore some teachings of Jesus,  then we ask, "Why am I not getting the results promised?  Why do I not know Jesus better than I do?"

We must remember that, unlike working out, the journey towards and with Jesus is all about relationship and how to better be in relationship with Jesus - each and every day, one day at a time.  We forget to hold  the tension between "working on and being in relationship everyday" with Jesus through scripture study and spiritual disciplines and "getting together with a bunch of other friends, acquaintances, and strangers" to work on our communal relationship with Jesus. 

Getting closer to someone - anyone - is difficult and takes time, work, and perseverance.  The challenge is, are we willing to invest every single day for best results in our relationship with Jesus?  It's up for us to decide...