What a physical trainer does for the body is what the pastor is trying to do for the soul. They both want people to achieve a life that is the way God designed it. One seeks physical health and happiness, and the other seeks spiritual health and happiness.

The trainer and the pastor watch with great excitement when people attend either the gym or the Church regularly. They both desire people to change their habits, get rid of the things that are destroying them, and work hard to achieve the desired results. When people do all that is asked of them, there is great joy in the trainer and the pastor as they see lives shaped for the better.

Both people also struggle with a great deal of disappointment. They have to sit back and watch people ignore their instruction, continue to embrace bad habits in their absence, and never gain a better life. It is painful to see people with so much potential waste it on junk food and junky living.

This time of year, people are making a mess of themselves both physically and spiritually. Come January, they will vow to make changes. People will join gyms, get personal trainers, and make resolutions. They will go to Church, get a Bible reading plan, and commit to developing a quiet time with God.

I hope that neither of them will be disappointed in you come February.