The idiomatic phrase “starting from scratch” most likely refers to a line scratched in the ground at the start of the race, indicating that if you are starting from scratch, or, from the starting line, then you are starting all the way back at the beginning without any kind of handicaps or special advantages. We often assume that if we sin or make mistakes or through no fault of our own fail in some other way, then if we try again, we will be starting over from scratch, all the way at the beginning. But that is not the case. There is a concept in strength training called muscle memory (this is different than the similarly named concept referring to motor skills). In the context of strength training, muscle memory refers to the phenomenon that After a period of muscle atrophy through inactivity, muscles are regained much quicker than it took the first time around. Muscles are among the largest kinds of cells, so large, in fact, that they require the development of additional nuclei to support them. When muscles atrophy and lose their mass, they don’t lose those additional nuclei, so when they are put under strain again through strength training, they respond much more readily than they did before and build muscle mass much more quickly. If we are just getting back into strength training after a period of inactivity, it may seem like we are starting from scratch, but that starting line is not in the same place as before. And if we lapse into inactivity once more and allow our muscles to atrophy once again and then start strength training again, then that starting line will be farther down the field again the third time. As it is with our physical muscles, so it is with our spiritual muscles. Each time we get back into the practice of exercising our faith, we will find that we regain our spiritual muscle mass much more quickly than it took us before. Every time we move forward, we scratch a new starting line in the track so that when we fall back, we don’t fall as far as we did before. When the Lord tells us that we must learn line upon line, this is what He’s talking about. We go forth with faith and we try our best to be obedient and by doing this we establish a new baseline. Then, when we fail, we start from that new baseline and build upon that. Every time we fail and repent and succeed and then fail again, we are starting from scratch but it is not the same scratch. We advance line upon line, here a little and there a little. I know it can be so disheartening having to start from scratch, but each time that we do, we make our recovery and forward momentum a little bit quicker than the last time. I hope that all of us who feel like we can’t get this whole thing started again will recognize the truth that this time will be different from last time. We’re a little older, a little wiser. We’ve got more experience and we will build up our muscles a little faster and a little stronger than we did last time.
