Beloved,
I love a good sweat. Of course, not all sweat is created equal. For example, today I was sitting outside at Niedlov’s waiting to meet someone for lunch and sweat began to drip down my arms thanks to the Tennessee humidity. That was not so pleasant! But contrast that with the kind of unexplainable euphoria that comes after a brutal workout and you are drenched in your body’s own salty, smelly perspiration. There is nothing quite like it!
Though the current heat might have our sweat glands working even when we are not, the presence of sweat is normally proof of significant bodily exertion. While a physical workout might not be pleasant in the moment, it bears the fruit of increased endurance, energy, muscle mass, stress relief, sleep depth, and the list goes on. That is why while I often don’t feel like picking up my kettlebell or grabbing onto my pull-up bar beforehand, I never regret doing it after the fact. I love a good sweat because ordinarily it is the precursor to some pretty sweet realities.
One of my favorite lines in John Flavel’s book on keeping the heart goes like this: “He that will not have the sweat, must not expect the sweet of religion.”
I’ve been thinking a lot about those words in recent days and have even turned them into a motto that I’ve been preaching to myself (with a deep, manly voice): “SWEAT BEFORE SWEET!”
About a month ago, Tessa had gone out for the evening and I was home with the boys. It had been a long day of ministry, and while I was looking forward to the time with them, I was also pretty tired. What’s a dad to do in such a situation? “Movie night!” I took the path of least exertion. I didn’t want to run around, get my hands dirty, and strain my tired mind to engage in meaningful conversation, and I knew the boys would be thrilled to flip on the TV after they had already met their screen-time quota for the day. But later that night I was convicted of my failure to seize upon a God-given opportunity for deeper relationship with them. I had forfeited the sweet because I didn’t want to sweat. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying it is wrong to watch a movie with your kids. But in that moment I was avoiding the more difficult path, and it cost me and them. Any significant growth in my relationship with my boys (or anyone for that matter) has always entailed significant exertion, pain, and even risk.
Sweat before sweet in my home!
Or how about vocationally? I knew I had a number of meetings this afternoon and limited time for sermon prep. So I set a goal that seemed unrealistic—to write my entire AM sermon in three hours. I had spent much of Tuesday studying the text, had my introduction fleshed out, and had a fairly decent idea of where I was going, but that goal still required significant mental and spiritual exertion. Having done it, however, the accomplishment has freed me up for the rest of the day to focus on people without the stress of pressing deadlines. Usually my stress as a pastor is due to procrastination which is often (though not always) due to a lack of desire to embrace the pain of hard work.
Sweat before sweet in my vocation!
But Flavel is focused more narrowly on our relationship to God in Christ (which he calls religion). How much sweetness do we forfeit for no other reason than because we don’t want to get our souls sweaty? Pursuing Christ is hard work. Engaging in the public and private means of grace with an aggressive, hungry determination to know Christ more is no easy thing. But if sweat proceeds sweet physically, domestically, and vocationally, why would we think otherwise when it comes to our spirituality? Like an earthly marriage, our marriage to Christ requires significant and ongoing exertion. Intimacy doesn’t just happen. The sweetness of knowing Him and being conformed to His likeness is ordinarily not had without pains.
My Taekwondo Master used to yell in my ear, “No pain, no gain!” My current workout instructor (via video) likes to shout, “The elite go past the point of comfort!” But I prefer to say, “Sweat before sweet!”
We’ll be thinking more about that in the Song of Songs this Sunday as the bride earnestly seeks after her beloved through the watches of the night and clings to him fiercely after she finds him. Her words and actions are reminiscent of the psalmist: “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek…My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow or your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”
That is some serious exertion resulting in some serious joy!
Oh friends, let us not fear a little soul sweat. For Christ delights to reveal Himself to the soul that is in earnest after Him.
Yours,
Pastor Nick
