Steele Croswhite is a GCM "pastor" in Utah. Not sure how well his theology is, but has a HUGE following.
EXERCISE A Word by Steele Croswhite
One of my favorite verses is Hebrews 11:1 — “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
William McDonald writes, “Faith is confidence in the TRUSTWORTHINESS of God. It is the conviction that what God says is true and that what He promises will come to pass.”
In many ways, faith is an immediate action for a future reward. It’s not like gravity — we don’t just have it or live in its undeniable power. It takes effort. Faith is more like a muscle that needs to be regularly exercised in order for it to work most effectively. Otherwise, it atrophies and becomes useless.
The other day I was teaching my son to ride a bike. His little legs were pushing down on the pedals as hard as they could, but he was barely moving. He just wasn’t strong enough to make the bike surge into motion. So I helped him push on the pedals, and eventually the bike inched forward. However, after a few days of this, I set him on the bike and BAM — he was off to the races. Through his own effort, his legs became stronger and the action of riding a bike became much easier.
Faith is just like that. My son already had everything he needed to ride his bike — feet, ankles, thigh muscles, calf muscles — it was all there. But it all had to be put into motion and those muscles needed to be flexed in order for them to be of any use.
God has “dealt to each one of us a measure of faith” (Romans 12:3), but like my son’s little legs, we need to flex that muscle in order for our faith to move the bike of our Christianity. Our faith must be exercised in order for our Christian lives to be marked by victory. It’s how we “run to win the race” (1 Corinthians 9:24).
For my son, the motivation for him to flex his muscles was the reward of an exciting bike ride. For the Christian, the motivation to flex our faith muscle is the reward of an exciting life! As it is written, "No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor mind has conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Are you regularly exercising your faith? Do you have assurance of things hoped for and conviction of things unseen? Amp up your workouts and flex those muscles!
Gettin' buff,
Steele
