"If you want to get big, you gotta lift something heavy"

This is a great quote that we heard this past Sunday from a guest speaker at a church we've been visiting for awhile now, Life Fellowship. Brian Loritts was an amazing communicator of truth and we were encouraged, challenged, and enlightened by him! He spoke out of 1 Corinthians 9 and what it means to finish strong". He was comparing the Christian life to a marathon in that it's a long journey, there are bumps along the way, and it doesn't really matter how you start, just that you finish, and finish strong. He told this great story of an encounter he had with his football coach in high school as he was trying to lift what seemed like an impossible amount of weight on the bars... After saying "I can't lift this weight" several times, his coach simply said, "If you want to get big, you gotta lift something heavy". What a wise statement for life... I don't know about you, but I find it so much more appealing to take "the easy road" a lot of the time. Not only do I not want to run a marathon, I don't even really like to get on the treadmill for 15 minutes. I'm so thankful for the reminder that the times in life that I feel most full and rich are when I've been forced to "lift something heavy"... and graciously, God doesn't allow me to have to carry the weight any longer than I can handle it. Since Sunday, Brad and I have repeated this quote several times and I hope it continues to be burned into our hearts and minds for a long time!

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9:24-29 (NAS)