When talking about the Christian life, we tend to use the phrase "walking with God.” It's a good metaphor. It describes a life where you constantly keep the Lord in mind, of a journey of exploration and understanding your personal relationship with the Almighty.

But sometimes, I'm not sure its enough. Walking (for those of us blessed with able bodies) is easy. A leisure activity. Living a truly Christian life is anything but easy. It's full of steep climbs, treacherous gaps, and an endless number of obstacles waiting to knock you down and derail you.

It's more like a spiritual marathon. 

Thankfully, just as how we can build up our bodies to sustain and carry us over a massive physical challenge, we can train our spirit to be ready for the long haul as well. By being mindful of our spiritual diet and workout routine, we can pump up our muscles of faith, our endurance in the face of hardships, and find the energy to constantly be an example for Christ without collapsing.

Let's look at some of the lessons we can take from the track and the gym and apply to our spiritual lives. 

Nobody starts training for a marathon by running a full 26 miles. You wouldn't go into the weight room at the gym and expect to squat 300 pounds on your first day either. So why do we expect to be perfect Christians from day one?

Living your life in God isn't a switch you flip, a light bulb you turn on, it's a process. An ongoing journey that will last your entire life. Don't over-extend or push yourself too hard when you're not ready for it yet or you'll burn yourself out. Expect set-backs and challenges, nobody ever made it to the finish line without picking up a few scrapes or bruises along the way. The important thing is that you don't let those hard-knocks defeat you when they happen, that you get back up and keep going.

The hardest part of any fitness routine is keeping it up. Most of us are (painfully) familiar with this. You get all excited, plan out a new workout and diet regimen, go at it real hard for a week or two and then... well, you had that early meeting to worry about, or that holiday over at the grandparent's place, or a week when the road in front of the gym was under construction. Soon enough, what starts as missing one or two days snowballs into missing two or three weeks until you honestly can't say you're still on the fitness wagon.

It's the same thing when you're talking about your spiritual life. It's all too easy to allow the distractions and annoyances of life divert your attention away from what is important. If you plan a goal for yourself, like making it to Church every week, or reading through a devotional every night before bed, stick with it. Don't let petty things distract you from that goal, or let one mistake keep you from trying again. Focus and make it part of your life.

The best fitness plans have clear goals. "I want to be able to run a half-marathon by next year,” "I want to fit back into my 34 waist by Christmas” but what kind of goals should you have for a spiritual training regimen? There is no way to step on some heavenly scale and tell how your spiritual health is doing.

But, that doesn't mean we aren't training with a purpose. The goal should always be to move in the direction towards the Lord. To strive to emulate the example set by Jesus a little more everyday. To be a little more compassionate, a little more forgiving, a have convictions that are a little stronger every day. To build up those spiritual muscles and live a healthier, fuller, spiritual life.