The Hamstring chronicles continue.

My hamstrings are short. When I do stretches, the right way, with my back straight and not hunched over like the Hunchback of Notre Dame I can only stretch halfway up my leg.

The physiotherapist tells me that I have to stretch A LOT. My shortened hamstrings will need two months of disciplined stretching in order to lengthen. A shortened, cold hamstring snaps or pulls easily in strenuous circumstances.

My rehabilitation will force me to stretch daily and warm up before playing squash or doing other sport activities. Laziness will not help my situation. My friend Schalk (who works in Mozambique) admonishes me to make use of activities I’m already doing to stretch – like stretching when I’m showering. This sounds like a good plan of action.

Our spiritual muscles can also shorten. Lacking regular use they can shorten, atrophy and eventually break. Or in some cases a ‘short’ spiritual muscle can be overused and stretched to the max, resulting in excruciating pain. Instead of overusing a muscle we should take it slow and condition the muscle.

Paul urged his protégé Timothy in this way:

And that special gift of ministry you were given when the leaders of the church laid hands on you and prayed—keep that dusted off and in use.

In another place he urged him to:

Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.

Like all things prevention is better than cure, so what is the condition of your spiritual muscles? Are they short? Are they stretched to the max? Are you wondering what muscles?