“Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked [following their advice and example], nor stand in the path of sinners,
nor sit [down to rest] in the seat of scoffers (ridiculers). But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law [His precepts and teachings] he [habitually] meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted [and fed] by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season. Its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers [and comes to maturity].” (Psalm 1:1-3 The Amplified Bible)
A habit that I developed as a youngster, perfected on to those cold days of winter when you could not go out and play, was disposing trash in the wastebasket from a distance by simulating a basketball shot. I still do it at 77 years old. Picture me with a balled-up piece of paper taking my shots, jump shots, set shots, hook shots, and those “3-2-1, time is running out, one second to go” shots. At times I even try the behind back pass. With my shooting accuracy somewhere around the 50% mark, that means that when I miss a shot, I have to bend over, pick it up, and “dunk” it in the wastebasket. Nowadays, as I bend or kneel to pick up the trash when I miss a shot, I notice my flexibility is not what it used to be.
Intrigued, but not surprised, I wanted to know more about flexibility. So I did some research. This is what I found, a technical and biological explanation: “Physical flexibility is the maximum range of motion achievable around a joint, which is a complex measure of the extensibility of muscles and the pliability of surrounding connective tissues. The body’s capacity for movement naturally diminishes with age, a physiological change that begins early in adult life. That explains why my grandchildren greatly outperform me in the area of flexibility, and on top of that, their fluidity, agility, and buoyancy are somethings to watch and marvel as they move about. In addition to that, I got to say it, their flexible moves do not come with the uttering of groaning and painful incoherent sounds that spontaneously spring from my mouth. I guess I better hit more “baskets,” right?
Well, that was one side of flexibility. What about flexibility in terms of adhering to the will of God? Let me answer the question from the perspective of the changing conditions of life. My view is that no matter what happens we, believers, should be inflexible when it comes to our faith and the manifestation of our faith, regardless of what we face. Whatever we face, we should not be moved, like a tree planted by the streams of waters, as expressed in the opening verses, and we should not bend at all when it comes to exhibiting our real trust in the Lord, as we are admonished in the closing verses. So, relating this to the two sides of flexibility, know that advancing chronologically, we will naturally lose some flexibility. On the other side of flexibility, as we advance spiritually, it is necessary to be inflexible, come what may. Think about it! I mean make it personal to your life by evaluating your spiritual inflexibility. Have a great weekend! Be blessed!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 New King James Version)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King