Putting In The Reps

I, to put it mildly, am not a gym rat. I have a gym membership, but I seldom go. When I do go, I’ll huff and puff on the machines, curl a few dumbbells, and do the things that gym people do. I’ll go home, ache the next morning, and make precisely zero progress. My arms won’t be stronger, I won’t have magically developed six-pack abs during the night, and my fifty-something dad bod remains a fifty-something dad bod.

Why? Because I didn’t put in the reps.

If I made it a habit to go to the gym every day and hit the weights, I have no doubt I’d see progress. But I haven’t. Because a simple rule of life gets in my way: If I don’t put in the reps, I won’t make progress.

The same is true in other areas of my life. If I don’t tidy up every day, my office will become a mess. My skills at playing the mandolin will not develop by me staring at the instrument hanging on its hook. I won’t develop in my writing craft if I don’t apply butt to chair and write.

This week, I’m taking a couple days off work to attend a preaching workshop put on by the Simeon Trust. It’s been 13 years since I was a bivocational pastor, preaching every week. I don’t get opportunities to preach that often these days, but should the Lord provide me with one, I want to be ready, not rusty. So this week, I’m putting in the reps.

I’m trying to put in the reps in other areas as well. I’m currently rehabbing a frozen shoulder, so I’m making it a point to do the exercises every morning. I’m trying to publish something a couple times a week in this space, and get in the habit of pitching articles for publication in other media. (I have a book review being published next week for The Gospel Coalition, so things are in motion on that front!) I’m picking up my Greek New Testament more and more, trying to relearn a language I first learned 35 years ago. It’s tough work, but I’m determined.

In what areas or your life are you putting in the reps? How can we encourage each other?