CREEDE HINSHAW: Resolve to work out your spiritual muscles as well

January 1, 2023 fell on a Sunday. A pastor knows this means there will be 53 Sundays in this calendar year.

Let’s assume you missed church last Sunday. Not to worry. You can still worship for 52 straight Sundays, which would be a great record.

One should acknowledge from the beginning that it won’t be easy or simple to attend worship 52 straight Sundays. There will always be obstacles. It might be very difficult to even make one Sunday!

I write out of my experience of re-establishing the habit and routine of a workout at the gym. For quite a few years I was very faithful, frequenting the gym three to four days per week, two for racquetball and two for working out on the machines.

But then came covid. The gym was closed for a long time, and I established no alternative routine. When the gym finally did re-open, it required masks. I was not opposed to masks, but they seemed very restrictive for a work-out routine. Furthermore, most of my racquetball friends had either quit, moved away, or had grown too feeble to play.

By the time the gym dropped the mask mandates I was so out of the habit that I couldn’t get myself re-established. The masks had not been required for over a year now, but I was still having trouble making myself return. I hated the idea that the first few times I returned my scrawny muscles would scream out in agony. I invented all kinds of very good reasons why it was better to give up on the gym for good.

At some point, around Thanksgiving, I finally decided to listen to that insistent inner voice that kept nagging me, “Go back! Go back!”

There may have been some guilt involved. I could remember — back when I once had been very faithful at the gym — how I used to mock people (secretly) who would join the gym around Jan. 1. I fancied myself “superior” because I had been working out all along. Now the roles were reversed. I was going to be a returnee, and I didn’t want to show up in January as a “newbie” who would quickly fade away after a couple of weeks.

What if the regulars looked on me scornfully? And so, to avoid this ridiculous scenario, I returned around Dec. 1.

I have enjoyed being back. I’ve re-established relationships with a few old friends, and I feel better every week. The sore muscles didn’t last too long, and I seem to have incorporated my gym schedule rather seamlessly back into my weekly life. I have even forced myself to attempt a few chin-ups at each session, which is absolutely the worst torture for me.

Do I need to draw the obvious parallels with re-establishing weekly worship attendance? Overcome your reluctance; ignore your doomsday scenarios. Make Sunday, Jan. 8 the day you establish — or re-establish — healthy, consistent worship habits. Your weakening spiritual muscles will thank you.