Philippians 3:8-14 – “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 – “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

Have you ever competed in sports, or other competition?  How much time did you spend preparing?  What drove you persevere in practicing when maybe you didn’t feel like it that day?  Hopefully it wasn’t an overbearing parent.  Hopefully you know what it is like to persevere in pursuit a personal goal.  The same discipline that you had in pursuing those goals is the same discipline with which we must pursue our salvation, as we seek to conform our lives into the image of Christ. 

If you want to get in better physical shape, what do you do?  Do you sit back and hope that you have good genes to magically stay in shape regardless of your effort?  Obviously, no.  Why then do some Christians take that approach with their spirituality?  Sometimes it’s helpful to see pictures, but since I’m limited in that regard through email, I’ll simply give an example of two Christians side by side.

Christian A:
Chooses to wake up an hour earlier each day to read His/Her Bible and pray
Chooses to get involved in an evangelistic/service ministry that is near to his/her heart
Chooses to get a spiritual mentor / be held accountable
Chooses to spend 1-2 hours at night in study of God’s word or other Christian (Biblical expository) books
Chooses to memorize scripture even though it might not be easy
Chooses to identify current sin struggles, how temptation strikes, and seeks to proactively defend against (or run from) temptation and kill sin
Chooses to get into Christian community with people who are different from him/her and take the risk of being known fully
Chooses a church (and actually becomes a member/active) where they are challenged spiritually from God’s Word
Chooses to earnestly seek after God in prayer daily

Christian B:
Goes to Church
Prays sometimes
Reads their Bible on occasion

Does this mean that Christian B isn’t saved?  Maybe, maybe not.  I can give you a 100% guarantee, however, that Christian A over time is going to be increasingly conformed into the image of Christ.  I could not give that same assurance to Christian B.  This makes sense right?  What do you think these two people are going to look like down the road after 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?  Can you see that gap growing and growing over time?  I can. 

We are those who have trusted on our Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.  We are those who have been granted grace through his shed blood, not to continue as we were, but to pursue Him in holiness.  Is the glory of God, through your transformed life, a goal for you?  Are you seeking to be valuable to God as a worker?  Don’t allow your career, or other pursuits to draw you away from joy in God.  Pursue God with even greater vigor and discipline, knowing that our reward is eternal. 

You may be looking at the list of actions I put up there under Christian A saying “I can’t do that”.  I’ve got this, and this, and that, which keep me from having the time.  Let me say this.  If you have children, hopefully you are rearing them in the Word of God, and they are your ministry.  If you do not have children, then whatever is taking up your time, however good it may seem, is nothing more than an idol.  For me, that used to be my career; my job.  I worked in consulting, which required me to travel constantly, working sometimes until 12am, 1am even pulling an all nighter once or twice.  You know what?  I found another job.  I realize that may not be easy, especially in the current economy, but complacency will kill the heart of a Christian.  Do you know that even in pursuing a different job… during that time, it drove me closer to God?  I knew God wanted me to have that time with Him, and time for ministry, therefore even my pursuit of those things were growing my faith.  Let’s always be seeking to raise the bar for ourselves, not lower it. 

Jesus never called mere converts, Jesus called disciples.  Less of us, is more of Him.  Therefore, let each of us exercise our great freedom in Christ to discipline ourselves for Godliness.  Where do you hope to be spiritually 1 year from now?  2 years from now?  5 years from now?  10 years from now?  We all have the same ultimate goal – Jesus.  He is our treasure. He is our prize.  You will fall, it will be hard, it will be messy, but the prize is worth your perseverance.  Each day is a new day in the Lord.  Instead of looking back at days already lost, let’s ask ourselves how we are going to live today for eternity.  Work hard, and rest in the grace extended to you by the blood of Christ. 

Grace be with you,
Adam