Shadowboxing

I love movies about boxing. One of my favorites is Cinderella Man, with Russell Crowe. I would even admit that I have watched my share of the infamous Rocky movies. I love how these movies portray great comebacks and I get inspired. I am no boxer, but one of the things I know about boxing is that a boxer, if he is going to be great, must train his body. So, they undergo months and years of exercises that fine tune the fighter to do one thing... box! One of these exercises is called shadow boxing. Shadow boxing is kind of a funny thing to do. It is simply when a boxer practices throwing punches at nothing to refine his technique and warm up the muscles to avoid injury. However, if he never gets in the ring, all his efforts are in vain.

I, recently, reading through the "pastoral epistles" of 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. I like to visit these passages at least once a year to remind and refresh what it takes to be a shepherd of people. In these letters, in particular those to Timothy, Paul uses an interesting phrase 3 times. "Fight the good fight." The first two are instructional, the last is himself reflecting on his own life. Something that stands out to me when I look at this command is that it assumes that there is a bad or no-so-good fight. He doesn't just say fight the fight, but rather fight the good fight. In the 1 Tim. 6:12, he further describes it as the "good fight of faith."

He is telling Timothy to give himself to that which matters most. I began to think about this and was reminded that we ALL give ourselves to something. But is it the right thing. We are all fighting a fight... but is it the GOOD fight. If I am not giving myself to Jesus daily, I am just shadowboxing. I can chase all sorts of good things (money, stuff, people, family, health, church, etc.) but I will come up wanting every time, because only Jesus truly satisfies. What do we spend our time pursuing? Jesus said where our treasure is, that is where we will find our heart. It's time to stop shadowboxing and to get in the ring... the right ring... and fight the good fight.