Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12
Many young men, in particular, love to work out their muscles. In high school and college, I was one of those young men. I could always be found in the weight room with my friends. It wasn’t just about trying to look good, although it certainly played a little part. We all played a few different sports, and we were trying to make ourselves stronger for the games we would play. Wrestling, which we did in the fall and winter, required a lot of total-body physical strength; soccer, which we did in the summer and fall, required a lot of lower-body strength. Had we not worked out in the weight room, then we would not have been very effective at either of those sports. Most of us guys had some natural abilities in sports, and some completely depended upon those abilities. The rest of us realized that, while those natural abilities would help us play the games, we could only reach our full potential if we did everything we could to make ourselves better.
Our spiritual muscles must be worked out,
as well, if we want to be effective in living for Jesus Christ. If you never
read your Bible, then how do you expect to grow? If you never spend time in
prayer, then how do you expect to reach your full potential for Jesus Christ?
So many Christian young people depend on the spirituality of their parents to
try to live their spiritual lives. They think that just because they have
always been in a Christian home, a good church, and maybe a Christian school
that they don’t need anything else. They don’t need the messages that are
preached in church because they have “heard them all before.” They don’t need
the advice from the youth pastor because “he hasn’t been a young person for
years.” The fact is, all of those are things that help work out the spiritual
“muscles” that are vital for growth and success.
If young men could get as excited about
working out their spiritual muscles as they are about working out their
physical muscles, then this country could be turned back to God in one
generation. There is nothing wrong with lifting weights, but it is time for
young men to start putting more focus on the things that really matter –
spending time working on their spiritual lives so they will be effective and
can reach their full potential for Jesus Christ.
Quote of the day: “Nearness to God brings likeness to God. The more you
see God the more God will be seen in you.”
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