Original: October 23, 2007
An attacker advances against you, Nineveh. Guard the fortress, watch the road, brace yourselves, marshal all your strength! Nahum 2:1
Weightlifters typically prefer working some body parts over others. In most fitness centers the guys have large upper bodies with pencil legs because they simply refuse to work them out. The “glutes,” quads, and hamstrings are large muscle groups and take a lot of blood, sweat and tears to work them and most guys I watch avoid them like the plague! I have a naturally large chest so, of course, I enjoy chest workouts.
Until recently I simply avoided my back workouts. I reasoned, since I cannot see my back-what’s the point? In fact, there was a long period of time that I didn’t even lift on my back simply because I could not see it. I simply ignored it. Why work your back that you cannot see when you can work your chest, arms, and abs that you see every day?
Right?
Wrong!
Let me tell you why. Your back is the key to your body and overall strength. Your back is the other side of your core. A back injury, unlike other body parts, requires total rest and often times surgery. Your back muscles maintain posture, create an overall sense of balance, help us lift everyday objects, and work with the front of our core (the back is the core too) to generate power, but we neglect our back because it’s, yep, in the back!
When I began to strengthen my back I strengthened my overall core as well.
When I look at this verse and consider its meaning in my life I go back to a conversation I had several years ago with a close friend of mine. He simply said, “I want friends in my life that will have my back.”
In other words, this man wanted guys around him who will see what he cannot see, add strength to the places where he is weak, and step in front of any attack from “his six” and bring balance to how he sees life. Essentially he was saying that he needed guys around him to watch his blind spots.
Sound familiar? “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17)
I love the lyrics to Creed’s song, Whose Got My Back, “Who's got my back now?
When all we have left is deceptive, so disconnected. So what is the truth now?”
When all we have left is deceptive, so disconnected. So what is the truth now?”
Think about this.
Who is watching your back? What men have the guts to call you out when they see something in you that is not in Christ? What men are helping you navigate through truth? What men are exposing the lies in your life? What men have you let into those dark alleys of your life? What men have your six?
Moses had Aaron and Hur. Paul had Silas and Barnabas. Jesus had Peter, James, and John. David had Jonathan.
Men typically cannot, no-will not, watch your back without an invitation. Having a few good men in your life to watch your back will increase your strength and enhance your growth potential.
These few friends are our greatest allies and closest friends-your inner circle.
Who has your six?
