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“Oh yeah daddy?”

Picture of Greg Stier
Greg Stier

The other day I came home from the gym and found my little boy in the kitchen. I took off my jacket and was about to make some breakfast for him when I noticed he was staring at my arms (I was wearing a sleaveless gym shirt). Now, you’ve got to understand something…my arms aren’t too big. I try to get to the gym a few times a week and work them out a bit, but for some reason I didn’t get that “bodybuilding gene” the rest of my family seems to have.

I have one cousin who at one point was 240 pounds (although only 5’8″ tall) and could bench press 550 pounds. I, on the other hand, am lucky to bench the bar and both clasps on a good day with a good spotter and a protein shake.

My gym goal is to be almost, quasi-semi buff. For me a compliment is, “Hey, if you worked out you could get big.” Just knowing that somebody sees potential in my puny arms is enough encouragement for me and my baby biceps to keep working out from time to time. 

How does this all tie into being a preacher and evangelist? It could be handy. Think about it. If a preacher has got enough tricep showing when he preaches and points to the text the audience knows that if they charge the stage he can give them a taste of the “Old Testament” right upside their head for the glory of God.

Just kidding. Preaching and violence don’t mix. I’ve tried it before and strained my hamstring in the process.

Anyway, my little boy is looking at my little arms and I said something daddy muey macho like, “You see these boy. You can’t buy these in the store. These babies are homegrown.”

I’ll never forget Jeremy’s response, “Oh yeah daddy?” holding his five year old arms up in a bodybuilder pose, “Well these are made of chocolate.”

I don’t even know why his little statement was funny. But it was. I made his breakfast wondering how I got one-uped again by a Kindergartner.

Speaking of flexing, it reminds me of God’s words in Jeremiah 9:23, 24, “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom. Neither let the rich man boast about his riches, or the mighty man of his might. But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me….” At the end of the day big biceps, bank accounts or brains don’t matter. The only thing that matters is that we know, love and serve our Almighty God.

It’s a good thing God doesn’t wear a sleaveless shirt. One look at a God’s fully flexed biceps and we’d all be running like scared school girls into the night (no offense to any scared school girls reading this right now.)

Gotta go…for some reason I’m hungry for chocolate!

Radical Like Jesus

21 Challenges to Live a Revolutionary Life

You are meant for more. God has called you to live a radical life for Him — one that makes a lasting impact on this world. Like Jesus did.

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