Sunday, October 24, 2010

Training Camp

"Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." - 1 Timothy 4:7-8

I love to workout. If I could I would work out, play basketball, football, volleyball, soccer, or some kind of sport everyday. I set my hope on being in good physical shape and living a healthy life and the drives many of my decisions and training (sometimes too much). The example in 1 Timothy 4 is essential for us to grasp as followers of Christ and relates to each one of our lives.

In verse 10 it says, "For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God..." Paul shows us how our relationship with Christ is just like many things we strive for in our lives. Did you set the goal of winning that state championship? Did that drive you to train? To push through the hard times? To keep going when you felt like giving up? You knew the end goal and weren't satisfied till you reached it. What about a relationship or job? Maybe a promotion or work goal. Do you train and focus on reaching it? Does it consume you?

Take a step back and look at 1 Timothy 4:6-10. If you say you are a follower of Jesus Christ your hope needs to be set on the living God. When our hope is set on the living God the things of this world fade. Our training shifts from selfish motives to selfless motives. Our focus shifts from the temporal to the eternal. We take every advantage to grow ourselves in the image of Christ and gain wisdom and understanding. Where is your hope set? We as believers must understand it takes blood, sweat, and tears to train ourselves for godliness. We must not run from it but embrace it.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Speak Life

We often talk about three basic kinds of words. Good words, bad words, and God's words. Good words may encourage but last for a moment, bad words are destructive and tear down, and God's words bring life and are everlasting. If you had to do an inventory of the words you spoke on a daily basis how would the percentages play out? In Joshua chapter 1 verse 8 it says this:

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

I love how this verse says, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your MOUTH..." God's words should always be flowing out of our mouths in conversation. Think about it for a second. When someone brings up the name Jesus, Scripture, or even just talks about what God is doing in their life or community what goes on inside of you? Do you get excited? Does passion start to burst forth? When we speak God's words we are speaking life into people.

How then do we speak God's words you may be asking. Well the answer is found in the next part of the verse, "you shall MEDITATE on it day and night..." 1st Timothy 4:7b-8 says this,

"train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."

If you thought following Jesus was easy I am here to inform you that you have been mistaken. Scripture lays out how hard it is to follow Christ and that it requires intense training, discipline, perseverance, endurance, and much more. Just as we train for sports, careers, hobbies, and other things in life that are temporal we must train even harder for the eternal. We must meditate constantly on the Word of God so that the Words of God will flow from our mouth. We must be people of God who speak life.