Thursday, June 5, 2014

Give Thanks

Give Thanks
READ:
Romans 1:21-25 – “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him…”
John 4:23 – “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

REFLECT:
There are countless things in the world for which we should be thankful:  life, breath, the smell of rain, a beautiful sunset, friends, spouses, children, family, sex, health, money, jobs, bacon, caffeine, strawberries, physical strength, our favorite training apparel, and so on. These are all things to be enjoyed. But how often do we see good things get misplaced by our over-desiring of them, and they transform into our ‘god-things?’ When good things become god-things we’ve dethroned God and an idol is born!

So we see in the universe there are two categories: the Creator and the created.  When people focus on God as their primary source of relational enjoyment they receive love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; and God gets shown as the Glorious One.  However, when anything else takes His rightful position, we ultimately receive the wages of counterfeit glory:  competitive bitterness, anxiety, lust, aggressiveness, impatience, resentfulness, stress, insecurity, and inner rage. These all ultimately lead to death.

The Games, The Open, local competitions, daily workouts, Sunday runs in the park, and even YOU were not created to be the focus of your life and/or worshiped. They were created and allowed by God as a gift for your enjoyment and His glory. Hitting a workout is a gift from God to enjoy as a celebratory appreciation of the life and health He’s given you. And, it is also much more!  It is a gift and a means to share with others your thanksgiving to God for how kind He’s been to you and how glorious He truly is.

RESPOND:
1 – Start a 5-minute timer.  List as many things possible you can recall for which YOU are thankful.
2 – Identify which items on the list have become “god-things” in your life.
3 – How has your fitness become a “god-thing?”
4 – If you could never workout again, how would you feel?
5 –Thank God for His many blessings through fitness and every other created thing He has given you to enjoy.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks Coach Pugh for this post. It is so easy for us to become obsessed with the good things thus forgetting that God must remain at the center. Stand Firm CrossFit.

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  2. 1. God, Family, Work, Life, Peace of mind, Health, Friends, Freedom to worship God, Freedom to go to the gym, Food, Shelter, Clothes, The ability to read and write. Overcoming injury and living to see another day.

    2. Money, that being the biggest because without it I could not tithe, by gym clothes, get gym membership (box that is), Pay my truck, pay rent, put gas in the vehicle that I own so that I could get to church work and the box, or be able to take vacation or fly to visit family.

    3. Seeing that my job demands physical strength, the gym becomes a big priority. Because of that sometimes it can become easy to get caught up in that and forget about the ruler and creator of all things in my life knowing and understanding that he is the priority.

    4. If God be with me who can be against me. My strength and health will always be there with him by my side.

    5. I thank God for given me health and strength allowing me to be able to support and defend the constitution of the United States of America.

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  3. Way to keep it real, Coach Pugh! This is great.

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