Years ago, I was swimming in the ocean, having fun with my friends, and enjoying my summer in Florida. All that fun came crashing down with a single wave. This was a very special wave, though. It possibly had a rock, or a giant fish, or maybe a devil in it. Then again, maybe it was just a wave. Whatever it was, that wave took me out.

I was boogie boarding (laying on a small surf board and catching the wave into the beach), and instead of catching the wave into the beach where everyone was tanning, I caught it to the ocean floor. It wasn’t that deep, of course. And it did carry me to the beach. But as I laid there, drowning in water that was about two inches deep, I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly hit me. Of course, in the middle of drowning in such shallow water, screaming for help, I couldn’t help but notice the oblivious lifeguard about 20-30 feet from me.

I have no clue what hit me, but whatever it was, it tore my ACL. My knee swoll up and was eventually emptied of 4 cups of blood. Oh, and it hurt. A lot. I went home and eventually had surgery on it. For weeks upon weeks (it seemed longer), my leg was in a cast, and then a brace, and was left unbent. During that time, the muscles around my knee lost all their strength and did what any muscle does when unused for a long period of time—it atrophied.

My muscles decreased, and were nowhere near as strong as they used to be. Prior to the accident, I could leg press a little over 300 lbs. After the surgery, I screamed in pain when my leg did a full rotation on an exercise cycle. I had no strength. It was true—if you don’t use it, you lose it.

This is true, not just naturally but spiritually as well. When it comes to our faith—the substance by which we receive the promises of God—if we don’t use it, we will lose it. If we are not progressing, then we’re going backwards. There isn’t really any standing still. The Bible doesn’t talk much about standing still in our faith. It does talk about going backwards, turning away from the hope we have in Christ.

I want to look at what it says about going forward, though, because if you will notice in your own life, if you’re not using your faith, then it’s going to start to atrophy. I have known people that were great Christians at one time, who loved God, but then they stopped using their faith. Some have become carnal Christians who couldn’t believe to get out of a wet paper sack; others have totally turned away from Christ.

The Apostle Paul compared the Christian life to that of the life of an athlete several times in his writings. In 1 Corinthians 9, he talked about running the race.

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. – 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

We’re told here by God, through the Apostle Paul, to run in such a way as to receive the prize. That’s not standing still. That’s training. That’s using the things that we have, that we need, to complete the race in front of us. A runner doesn’t just go out and train once a week to win a race. They’re continually training, continually running, and continually preparing for the race that’s in front of them. For us, we’re always in the race, so we need to be continually doing the things that will cause us to obtain that prize that is set before us.

That means we can’t be still (spiritually speaking). We can’t just set back on cruise control. If we do, we’re going to start to atrophy. In fact, did you know that athletes, specifically, start to experience noticeable atrophy after two or three weeks of inactivity? Of course, that’s based on several factors. And the longer they go, the more their bodies atrophy. That’s natural.

There is a relationship between natural and spiritual things. The longer we go without exercising our spiritual muscles, the weaker they get. We should continually exercise our spiritual muscles.

Hebrews 12:1-2 says, ”Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Again, the writer of Hebrews (who many consider to be the Apostle Paul) compares the Christian life to an athlete running a race. He says that we should run our race with one quality—endurance. The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint. There are many Christians that get on fire for God after hearing a message and then just fizzle out after a time (look at the parable of the sower for more on that). We’re told to run with endurance, though. When it comes to the spiritual side, we should continually strive for the things God has for us. We should be continually using our faith, continually doing the things we know to do, and continually praying and seeking His face. We don’t do it in spurts and take a month off. It’s continual. It’s a marathon run with endurance.

This is echoed time and again throughout the Bible. 1 Timothy 4:15 tells us that our progress should be evident to all. Philippians 3:13-14 tells us to press forward toward those things that are ahead, toward the goal. We’re not told to sit around and grow weak. We’re told to go.

If we do not use our faith, constantly and continually, doing what we’re told to do in the Bible, then it’s going to have a negative effect on us. Just think about it. If you don’t use your faith for 30 days to believe God for something, it’s going to be hard to do so after those 30 days. If you don’t go to church for 30 days and then try to start going back, it’s going to be hard. You already have so much pulling against you not to go, not to do what the Word says. Why would you want to add anything else to the side that’s pulling you from God? Just look up the statistics on church attendance after the Pandemic. Many people just never came back after sitting at home for months.

There is some good news, though. Naturally speaking, for athletes and those who exercise, studies have found that both athletes and non-athletes can reach their peak fitness levels quicker after they have stopped training than when they first started training. Trained muscles that have been detrained respond faster to training. I believe this carries over to the spiritual as well. If you have used your faith in the past, if you have done what the Word says, and if you have stopped, it is easier to start back up than it would be when you first got saved.

Don’t be oblivious like that lifeguard on the beach that day. He was too busy not paying attention to what was right in front of him. He wasn’t doing the most important thing. He wasn’t doing what he was supposed to do. We’re supposed to be doers of the Word. We’re supposed to pay attention to spiritual things. We’re supposed to be doing the most important thing in life—living out the Christian life.

So take 5 minutes or 10 minutes to pray, if you haven’t. Continually use your faith to believe God for something. Read at least one chapter of the Bible a day. Do something. Let it snowball into something big and mighty. Don’t let your faith atrophy.