I’ll never forget the challenge. I was lying on the bed. I had just forced out three push-ups with the help of the mattress. My cousin Rocky, who was "god to me," looked me straight in the eye and said, “Next time I see you, I want you to be tough.” I was 10. He was 16. Rocky lived 12 hours away.
When I got home I went to my dad’s music store. He had a guy working for him named Little Beaver. He was a professional midget wrestler - tall as he was wide. He was able to pick up La-Z-Boy recliners like they were folding chairs. Little Beaver, I said, “You've got to teach me how to do push-ups! I’ve heard from "god" and he told me next time I saw him I needed to be tough!” Little Beaver taught me that day how to do a real push-up. On the way home I remember crossing the street at a certain angle looking down at the pavement with a mission to be tough the next time I met god (Rocky).
Over a three month period, my pudgy 10 year old frame, went from being able to do three push-ups with the help of a mattress to 90 in one set. Next time I saw "god," it was Christmas. I said to Rocky, “Let’s do push-ups.” I can remember it like it was yesterday, we were on Victoria Island at our grandparents apartment, it all took place in the living room beside the coffee table. Over about a 20 minute period, which included a number of sets, "god" did 277 - I did 278!
I started thinking about my love affair with push-ups. Then I thought about pull-ups. Have you ever done a pull-up? They are much more challenging than push-ups. As I continued to meditate upon these two disciplines and the phrase "I Must” I realized that “I” might represent push-ups, while “Must” could represent pull-ups. The essence of the word "must" comes from the concept of Divine compulsion. Must is God’s divine energy that pulls me towards His purpose. “I” is my response to push myself towards where He is pulling me. God is not pushy, but He is "pully." From a "push" point-of-view, it's our flesh that needs the push-up, it's our spirit that responds to the pull-up. So here's the essence of my thought - we must get behind what God is pulling us towards.
When god (Rocky) looked me straight in the eye and told me the next time I saw him that he wanted me to be tough, it was him pulling me toward a vision. His pull motivated my push to take the challenge to be tough. Ever since then I’ve had a love affair with push-ups.