“Do you see what this means — all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running — and never quit!

No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in.

Study how he did it.

Because he never lost sight of where he was headed — that exhilarating finish in and with God — he could put up with anything along the way:

Cross, shame, and the public disgrace and humiliation.

And now he’s there, in the place of honour, right alongside God.

When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! ” (Phrasing and Emphasis mine !!) Hebrews 12:1-3 (MSG)

I heard this from a good preacher one Sunday, about ten years ago, speaking about ‘spiritual fat’ and ‘parasitic sins’.

Made some excellent points too, but one that stuck in my mind was this – what did you do with the sermon you heard last week?

In fact, what was the subject of last weeks sermon?

We hear an average of between 40 and 50 sermons at Sunday services every year. Make that 80-100 if you have two services on Sunday — 120-150 if you do a weekly house or home group too.

What do we do with all the accumulated wisdom of those meetings?

Do you use it in your daily life?

Do you use it at all?

Or do you simply grow spiritually fat by keeping all that great spiritual food to yourself?

Do you ever pray the last sermon into your life?

Do you ever do what the preacher urged you to do?

Most never use any of it because they rarely, if ever, exercise their spiritual muscles. Methinks some of us have a little repenting to do!

So what’s with the other thing; the parasitic sin thing?

Are your spiritual habits up to the standard required to keep you spiritually fit?

Or are your poor habits sucking the spiritual life-blood out of you just like a real parasite?

A little bit more repenting perhaps?

We all need to exercise our spiritual muscles a bit more.

We are, as Paul puts it, running a race, running towards the prize that Jesus promised us. Yet if we don’t exercise enough; if we don’t use the material we are given; if we waste our energy on other things — then we get spiritually fat and our parasitic sins keep us that way.

Another old sermon in that Church was on the rapture. Excellent it was and yes, for a change, it still fires me to a lot of spiritual exercise today.

I’m still too spiritually fat, but I think I just got the message.

How about you?

 

~ Chris G. Bennett

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Chris Bennett came to salvation in 1962 but didn’t begin ministry until 2007 — a late-comer! Now mandated by The LORD to prophesy and open old wells of revival in the U.K., but especially in Wales. He has also operated Healing Rooms, and worked with deliverance teams, all with his wife, Linda. Happily now doing whatever The LORD asks of them! Founder, with wife Linda, of their ministry The Upper Room Encounter.

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