As many of you know, I’m training for a Spartan Race, which takes place just outside of San Diego at the end of January.
For those of you not familiar with the Spartan Race, it’s the toughest and baddest of all the mud obstacle course races.
I get nervous about it just doing a Google search for “Spartan Race Obstacles.”
The obstacles include crazy stuff like: crawling in the mud under barb wire, jumping over fire, climbing a 25-foot wall covered in slimy mud, throwing a 15-foot spear at a target, carrying heavy objects up a hill, endless burpees and so much more.
The one I’ll be doing is a Spartan Sprint, which will be a three- to five-mile course that includes 20+ obstacles.
For the last couple of months, I’ve been training really hard.
My primary goal is to just finish the course. I’m not concerned with time.
My secondary goal is to complete all the obstacles. If you cannot complete an obstacle, then you have to do 30 burpees as a penalty.
And I really hate burpees, so the less I have to do the better.
I’ll be sure to keep you all updated on how I do at the Spartan Race, so stay tuned in late January for a blog post about it
Now, imagine if I didn’t train for the Spartan Race at all.
Imagine if I didn’t even exercise, ate potato chips, fried chicken and drank Coke all day long.
If I showed up on race day, I probably wouldn’t do very good.
The same is true when it comes to discipleship.
It’s important for the preteens in our ministries to “train” themselves to be like Jesus.
That means they need to stay connected to Him in their everyday lives.
They need to follow disciplines and form habits that enable God to change them from the inside out.
They cannot simply decide on will power alone to be like Jesus in their actions.
However, the more they encounter God, the more he shapes and molds them to be like Jesus.
Use this free game, which includes a mini-lesson on discipleship, to help drive home that point to preteens in your ministry.
Nick Diliberto, The Preteen Ministry Guy
