We are either moving forward or backwards in our walk with God. If we are not passionately pursuing Him, then we are by default backing away. We must fight spiritual passivity.
In 2 Timothy 2: 4-6, Paul uses three excellent analogies of how we are to pursue our walk with God. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops.
We are to conduct ourselves like a soldier. A soldier has submitted himself to his superiors. He is ready at a moment’s notice to act without delay. He has been trained to engage the enemy and win. He has learned how to work as a team with his fellow comrades. He has disciplined himself for hard times.
An athlete has disciplined his body through hours of exercise. He has learned to endure and to push himself beyond what is average. He strictly controls his diet and regiments his whole life in pursuit of his dream of winning the competition.
A farmer is diligent with growing his crops. He is up at sunrise ready to tend the fields. He sows his seed early and watches over it as it grows. He removes all obstacles of growth from the tender plants so that he can receive a full harvest in due season. He works hard!
So we are to fight like a soldier, prepare like an athlete, and work like a farmer. There is no place for slackness in the kingdom of God. Don’t allow yourself to be mediocre spiritually. Jesus shed His blood to redeem you from the world, the flesh, and from Satan’s dominion. Passivity dishonors His work at Calvary. Give God your best today.
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14).
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