Making Weight

I'm not sure why, but I just love a good fight. Not that I want to be in one, but watching two fighters in the ring going at each other gets my heart racing. Anytime I can, I'll channel surf to see if a good fight's on, and my DVR is set to record all of HBO's Boxing After Dark and Showtime's ShowBox. I've even gone to see the new movie, Warrior, two times in the last week. Mary thinks it's an obsession, which makes watching it into the late night almost impossible because as she says, "it keeps me up at night when I'm trying to sleep." Obsessed? Maybe.

A key aspect to the fight is the training that goes into fight preparation. HBO has jumped on this fascination with a program called 24/7, which follows the fighters behind the scenes as they train up to the big fight. What you'll find in the gym these days with the managers, trainers and fight paraphernalia is a nutritionist who's been hired to make sure the fighter is properly nourished so he can train and perform at peak levels. Another reason is to help the fighter make weight, as fights are determined by weight divisions so the competition remains fair and competitive. Coming in overweight can disqualify an athlete from the fight.

As we prepare ourselves for the Worship Encounter in celebration of our 14th Anniversary of our Metro Life Church, we are sounding the alarm and calling for an all church 5 Day Fast. Not that we're wanting to shed the pounds, but as part of our spiritual discipline we're getting ready to have an encounter with God and we want to be ready. And fasting prepares the spirit of man to be strengthened. Instead of feeding our flesh, we putting our spirit on a strict nutritional plan of God's Word and prayer.

As Jesus was preparing for next level experiences in His life, He spent 40 days in fasting and prayer, and after taking on the devil himself in a full on fight, He came out victorious and never looked back. We could say about Jesus, that in the short three and half years of working, strategizing, preparing, training and fighting, He never lost a fight. He was unbeaten, undefeated, and totally underestimated. He was a Champion of Champions.

Let us prepare our spirits on this PrayDay and get ourselves ready for our own encounters with God. Spend time getting into the Word and find the value of fasting and how other great patriarchs of the faith benefitted from the practice. And then kick off the fast with your Metro Life family THIS coming Friday night at sundown. We'll conclude the fast together as a family on the first night of our Worship Encounter on Wednesday night at sundown.