OceanSide church of Christ

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HOW HARD ARE YOU WORKING ON YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE?

Victor M. Eskew

 

            A professional athlete must constantly work on his/her “game” in order to compete at a high level.  When you hear them talk, they divide their game into various fundamentals.  A professional tennis player works on his serve, his return of serve, his forehand, his backhand, his drop shot, the placement of the ball, his overhand, hitting the return at various heights, his nerves, and his conditioning.  He must make certain that he works on all areas of his game.  If he does not, the one area he has been slack in just might cost him a game, a set, or a match. 

            In like manner, the Christian needs to work hard on his/her Christian life.  Working on his Christian life involves breaking it down into various components.  First, a Christian should work hard on worship.  Worship is defined as “paying homage or adoration to God.”  Jesus tells us that worship involves both truth and spirit.  “God is a Spirit:  and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).  It is fairly simple to worship “in truth.”  The Christian learns what the church is the first century did and follows its example (See Acts 2:42).  Worshipping “in spirit” is more difficult to master.  Worshipping in spirit involves one’s attitude and attentiveness to the acts of worship as one is involved in them.  It is easy to let the mind wander.  It is easy to let things like children and cell phones to distract us.  It is easy to sit and do nothing.  It is easy to become a critic rather than a worshipper.  The goal of the worshipper should be the same goal of the psalmist.  “May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer” (Ps. 19:14).

            Another area of work for the Christian should be in obtaining knowledge of the Word of God.  Peter commands us, saying:  “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  To him be glory both now and for ever.  Amen” (II Pet. 3:18).  Knowledge is not something that is easy to acquire.  After a preacher proclaimed a very powerful lesson, a young man in the audience said:  “I would give my life to have that kind of knowledge.”  The older gentlemen replied:  “That is exactly what it has taken me.”  To acquire knowledge one must dedicate money for tools of Bible study.  He must dedicate time for study.  He must dedicate the hard work of reading, comparing, reasoning, and make decisions about God’s Word.  Increasing one’s knowledge is not easy (Eccl. 12:12), but it is a very profitable aspect of the Christian life.

            Prayer is a third area that deserves some diligent attention by the child of God.  Prayer seems like a simple activity, talking to God.  Yet, many Christians struggle with prayer.  They do not pray enough.  They do not pray with faith.  They seem to pray the same prayers over and over.  They are not attentive to the prayers God has answered.  They do not examine their lives to see if they are praying acceptable prayers to God.  All of these things take a toll on their prayer lives.  In the opening section of Luke 18, Jesus tells a parable.  The parable has a purpose in mind.  “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:10).  James reveals that the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16).  Prayer should be a major part of the training regimen of the Christian.  Weekly attention to one’s prayer life is not too much.

            Another part of the Christian life that all should address is evangelism.  Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).  This should be one of our priorities.  Every Christian should get “good” at it.  In fact, we do not need to be just good, we need to be excellent at it.  But, most are not.  In fact, many Christians do not give any attention at all to evangelism.  Each one of us needs to begin by making a list of all those who are prospects for a Bible study.  Then, we need to pray for these lost souls daily (Rom. 10:1).  After praying for them, we need to approach them out of love and concern and ask for a Bible study.  We need to learn how to invite people to worship services.  We need to learn to incorporate Scripture into our conversations with others like Jesus did with the Samaritan woman in John 4.  We need to learn a method of Bible study that we can use to teach others.  The growth of the church is dependent upon each member of the Lord’s church.  If all of us will sow bountifully, we will reap bountifully (II Cor. 9:6).

            A fifth area of the Christian life that Christians must spend time on involves resisting temptation.  Satan is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (I Pet. 5:8).  He is persistent in tempting God’s children to sin.  Peter tells us that we must resist him steadfastly (I Pet. 5:9).  This, however, is not easy.  To do it, we must learn Satan’s devices (II Cor. 2:11).  To do it, we must develop the ability to deny ourselves (Luke 9:23).  To do it, we must have a good grasp of God’s Word (Ps. 119:11).  To do it, we must love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matt. 22:37-38). 

            The last area we will mention in this article in which Christians need to commit some diligent effort is in the proper use of the tongue.  James tells us that “the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity” (James 3:6).  He also reveals that “it is an unruly evil, and a deadly poison” (James 3:8).  We need to spend some time learning the proper uses of the tongue.  We also need to spend some time learning the wrong uses of the tongue.  James tells us that unless we learn to bridle our tongues, we deceive our hearts and our religion is vain (James 1:26).  We want to develop our tongues to the point that our speech is “always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man” (Col. 3:6).

            When a coach gets together with the athlete he is training, he asks:  “How hard have you been working on your game?”  As Christians, we need to ask ourselves a similar question.  “How hard are we working on our spiritual lives?”  Paul exhorts us to labor diligently on our spiritual lives.  As you read his words to this end, listen to the promises he attaches to our efforts.  He writes:  “Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.  Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them:  for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (I Tim. 4:15-16).