If you’ve ever played baseball, you are likely aware that making contact with a 3” round baseball travelling at 90+ mph from 60’6” away with a 34” long 2 ¾” diameter bat is absolutely physically improbable. Add the fact that the ball will move erratically without warning and you have a recipe for an embarrassing strikeout! Yet, with enough practice and patience the odds of success improve greatly. The reason for this is called “muscle memory”. Well-trained muscles respond far faster than if the brain were coordinating all movements for the first time. Muscle memory is essential for repeated success and far more reliable than blind luck. Can you imagine someone who takes 25-30 swings a year coming to the plate in the World Series!? I don’t think anyone would be surprised with a quick strikeout and then the player would be showered with a chorus of boos for not practicing and taking the game more seriously.
Said another way, how can we expect to stand firm in our faith and convictions when we have gone to church 25-30 times in a year, have rarely cracked open the bible, not attended a bible study, or have not prayed with consistency or expectation? I am confident that the battle with the enemy and our own sin nature is far greater than any sport and the stakes on the line are far higher than any competition. The apostle Peter understood this well when he penned 2 Peter 1:3-11. Peter knows that only through practice are we able to develop the muscle memory capable of withstanding the battle. The “practice” that I am referring to is better known as “spiritual discipline” and the “muscle memory” is better known as “spiritual maturity” or “reliance on Christ.” The whole process is best known as “sanctification” and is a life-long endeavor. The reward, as Peter so well states, is that if we take hold of the spiritual disciplines, “you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
The old sports adage is that “you play how you practice.” This is an accurate statement well beyond the field of play. How can I expect to not be angry, keep my patience, not have a wandering eye, manage finances well, parent in love, be the husband my wife needs, and on and on if I never actually practice! Then, when I expectedly fail, I boo myself off the field. My head hangs low in defeat. I know what I should have done, and I just failed to execute. I am just like Paul in Romans 7:24 – “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” Then, I stand convicted, frustrated, and defeated. I am destined to live this cycle over and over again. Except! There is a better way!
Paul follows his own struggle in Romans 7 with the life-giving verses of Romans 8:1 – “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”! I am not destined to repeat my mistakes! I am freed from their bondage. I have been given the Spirit within me to strengthen and guide me, but I must participate in the divine nature as I have escaped the corruption of the world through the promises of God (2 Peter 1:4), fulfilled in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). We lay hold of those promises through practice and commitment to exercising the spiritual disciplines of Scripture. Actions, such as, prayer (alone and with other believers), study (individually and corporately), meditation (contemplating scripture, not emptying our mind), fasting, serving others, and worship are all wonderful spiritual disciplines to practice. How we exercise our spiritual bodies is vitally important to withstanding the tests of this life.
We are not perfect, and our righteousness is found in Christ not our efforts, however, we are active participants in this battle and we must be prepared. Avoiding practice (spiritual disciplines) because it is tiresome merely confirms our inevitable failure. When the time comes to play the game and the lights come on and the season is on the line, will we have had enough practice to allow muscle memory to take over? When we invest the time and energy to develop our spiritual core, then when the battle rages, we will not be dependent upon our untrained self to pull out the victory. Instead, we will stand firm in the promise that Christ has already gained the victory and His very Spirit in us is all the muscle memory we need for victory in any battle. You play how you practice. Practice hard, practice often, and enjoy Christ’s victory.
"Adam Baker is senior pastor of West Bend Community Church in West Bend, WI. He received his Master’s in Practical Theology from Regent University and B.A. in Business and Accounting from the University of Pittsburgh. He also has a 21+ year in corporate retail, serving in varying executive management roles. Adam and his wife, Jenny have 4 children, Kaleb, Joshua, Samuel, and Ava."
