The Parable of the Three Bodybuilders by Kevin Parker |
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 Kevin completing a half ton leg press |
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| The Parable of the Three Bodybuilders Once upon a time, there were three bodybuilders. The first had tremendous determination & persistence but didn’t easily grow muscle. The second had more muscle but less determination & persistence than the first. And the third had fantastic genetics & the ability to grow muscle very easily. As the three’s lives unfolded, they gravitated to weightlifting. While the third put on muscle very easily & found success early, he quickly burned out once he encountered adversity & had to struggle to move upward in what he seemed naturally suited for. He gave up because it was just too hard & went into other endeavors often referring to his top, physical shape always in the past. He squandered his health & body dying before he turned 70. The second bodybuilder who had less ability but more desire fought his way through the early stages of bodybuilding competing in small contests but unable to win as he expected. One day in the gym, a sure route to bodybuilding success was offered to him in the form of injectible testosterone. "You deserve an edge over your competition", the drug dealer masquerading as a gym owner said. "Besides, I know your competition is taking this." The second bodybuilder took the bait & began taking steroids. While he moved up & placed higher, he eventually found himself both mentally & physically addicted to steroids as his only path to consistent progress & gains in the gym as well as for his self-esteem out of the gym. He was irritable & ran off his workout partners. He eventually found that his body could no longer take the strain of drug use & due to diminishing gains in the gym, quit working out consistently coming in every so often to see friends & "get in a few sets". He too squandered his health & died about 20 years earlier than God had intended due to the wear & tear of drug use on his body. However, the bodybuilder who had more determination & persistence than the other two didn’t set his mind on short-term gains or bodybuilding glory at the price of his overall health & length of life. He saw bodybuilding as a way to improved quality of life free of chronic pain & disease. He saw his body as a gift from God as well as God’s temple (1 Cor. 6:19-20). He treated it respectfully for the Giver not getting lost in just the gift. He chose to use the gift to point others back to God. God respected his choices & because the other two ended their lives prematurely, God gave this last of the three bodybuilders a double portion of what the other two took for granted. The last bodybuilder not only had superior health & quality of life but continued to grow muscularly late in his career while others had given up making any progress. When all three eventually stood in front of the Lord, He asked each one, "What did you do with the gift I gave you? How did you use it to serve me? The first two had to admit; "I never thought of it as a gift from You!" How will you answer when God asks you how you cared for the gift He gave you, His temple here on earth? How did you glorify God by taking care of it? How are you pointing others to God & Jesus with your "temple"? Your brother in Christ, Kevin Parker http://360.yahoo.com/dfbb_15909 http://home.hot.rr.com/kevinparkers http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/drugfreebodybuilding |
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