Let's go buttercup! Slip on those tiny pink workout gloves and let's set the gym roof on fire. Take care though. The same fire that cooks our food is also capable of delivering 3rd degree burns. In the same way the fire necessary to build muscle is also capable of doing us great harm if we don't control it.

I'm probably not the only person to walk into the gym because they wanted to look better and be stronger. With success in the gym comes a new danger. The fire that breeds success can also make you a sort of fitness Pharisee. The Pharisees were the strictest sect of Judism. They represented the pinnacle among the Jews. The elite. To put it in bodybuilding terms, they would have been the Mr.Olympia contenders. Jesus told this parable about a Pharisee and a Tax Collector.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." --Luke 18:9-14

I too stand guilty of feeding the insidious pride within the fallen nature of us all, just like the Pharisee in this parable. I've caught myself admiring myself way too long in the mirror. Easy to do in a gym full of mirrors. I've also fell into the habit of comparing myself to others. Not to admire, but elevate the way I felt about myself by demising them in my own eyes. Undoubtably there will be many people who would see nothing wrong, and consider what I've just stated only natural to the healthy ego. Search as you might though, you won't find the word "ego" anywhere in the Bible. The ego is a concept from the imagination of one of the wise owls of this world trying to get to the center of a Toosite Pop by his own power. Pride on the other hand, is mention in the Bible more than 50 times. Usually as a sin, an affront to God, and something that God hates.  

I've come to the conclusion that the better we become, the more we must guard our hearts against pride. Pride is a bitter root that must never be allowed to grow. Pride is a self created blockade that stops the flow of God's grace.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything flows from it. --Proverbs 4:23

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of a God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. --Hebrews 12:15

Daily Grind Thursday December 28, 2012

Warm-up

--Standing Drills #2

--Ropa Dope 10 Spot

--Indian Clubs 10 Spot

Superset

--Squat 10 sets of 10 with 155 lbs.

--Cross bench dumbbell pullover 10 sets of 10 with 45 lbs

Concept 2 Rowing Machine, steady state for 30 minutes

Total Workout time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Workout Quality: A1. Quality reps, quality sets, quality work, quality sweat, quality pump, it just keeps getting better and better.