A woman tells the story of how she and a group of other women were working out with a fitness instructor. The instructor gave them things to do - like, run to the fence 3 times or, do 15 push ups. The lady noticed that one group of women weren't running full force to the fence, but stopping part way and counting it as "1". Were they hurting the fitness instructor? Not at all! They were cheating themselves out of the benefits of the exercise!
When I heard this story, it made me think of my own life and consider the times where I may have been cheating myself out of some good stuff. When I don't spend time in prayer, I'm cheating myself out of telling my heavenly Father my deepest concerns, thanks and praise. When I don't read my Bible, I'm cheating myself on hearing what God has written for me. When I only attend Sunday morning worship, and skip out before Bible study or don't come back for Sunday evening services, I'm cheating myself out of not only the worship time, and learning but also out of the fellowship and relationships I loose by not being with my fellow Christians. When I fail to respond to the gospel call, I cheat myself out of all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 3:1)
Choosing to "work hard" and be fully engaged in every activity will help us to not cheat ourselves from the great blessings God has for us. So, don't be a cheater!
