I've never been much for stretching before or after a workout. Stretching always seemed optional, something that you could do if you wanted to, but not really necessary. And, in one sense, I was right. When I was younger, I could set out cold on a 5-mile run, or leave a round of weights in the gym, hit the shower, and go on with my day without much problem. Plus, stretching hurts. It's painful, and it's time-consuming: two things, neither of which I'm too fond of. The older I get, however, the more I'm realizing the importance of stretching. Without stretching, my muscles hurt worse when I workout, they become stiff, hardened, and inflexible. If I don't stretch knots in my neck and back come easier, and my shoulders get a little hunched. My muscles also find every way they can to cheat during workouts. They "remember" the routines so they can do the least amount of work possible. Stretching forces them to move, to bend, to change, to grow in ways that even weights can't.
Here's the thing: the principle that works in the gym, also works in my Christian life as well. Stretching is essential. It's imperative that I'm constantly finding ways to be stretched in my walk with Christ, especially the older I get. Just like my muscles do in a physical sense, it's so easy to find myself becoming hardened and inflexible, it's so easy to live on past spiritual insights, doctrines, and the things about this life that I already know how to do, so that I end up doing the least amount of "real, new work" possible and still give the appearance of fighting and running and lifting and growing. And, yes, just like in the gym, stretching hurts, and it is often time consuming, which is actually a blessing. It is the thing that will make my workouts more effective on the front end, and put me in the right frame of mind as I go out into the world so that people meet someone soft and flexible, not hardened and unbending.
