I’ll never forget one of the times I went to an exercise class. The instructor had us use those giant balls as part of our workout. Did I mention I was on a roll? But definitely not a good roll. I could tell I was getting on the nerves of the gal next to me about the third or fourth time I mowed her over.
The giant ball thingy had a mind of its own. It seemed determined to escape my grasp. Maybe next time I’ll sign up for the greased pig class. Or maybe I should’ve considered a class more selfdefense related because the ball really wanted to start a fight. I think I heard it snickering somewhere around the fifth time it smacked the lady next to me. It got her right upside her cute little head band. I was a little worried that if this giant ball didn’t beat the tar out of me, sweat-band-girl would.
We were supposed to lie on the ball, belly-down with our palms on the floor in front, then work our way out so that just our legs were balancing on the ball. I would get about to the thighs and then have to scramble and sprint after my ball. I don’t know what everyone got so upset about. It’s not like I was trying to bowl all their water bottles over. Isn’t that Keep the ball rolling by surrendering to God what the caps are for?
The instructor said something interesting during one of my scrambles. She said that when our body’s core is strong, we have good balance. Let’s face it, my inner core is pretty pathetic. There are muscles in there, I’m sure, but
they’re so buried under all those layers of doughnuts and cheesy nachos that I’m doubting I’ll ever find them.
I want it to be different in the spiritual heart of who I am. I want to be strong at the core of everything that makes me tick. When life seems all out of balance and I’m rolling this way and that, the first thing I need to ask myself is, “how’s my core?”
What is it that makes a solid spiritual core? It’s a life lived in surrender and obedience to the Holy Spirit of God. And that’s a life that bears fruit. Paul spoke of that fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.” In The Message, verse 23 is paraphrased in an interesting way: “But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”
Hmmm, “direct our energies wisely,” eh? Maybe a strong physical core and a strong spiritual core are more related than I think. I should definitely consider keeping up the exercise in both—“keep the ball rolling,” as it were. And maybe I can even get to a place where I can walk into class without everyone grabbing their water bottles.