We are getting ready to schedule our annual physical exams. We check weight, blood pressure, get lab work done, and have a conversation with our doctor to get a complete update on where we stand in our general health. This is a good way to catch an underlying issue before it becomes a problem that is more difficult to treat.
It is also good from time to time to pause and take an account of where we stand with the Lord in our faith and works. Are you lying down asleep, or sitting lazily? Are you standing firmly yet going nowhere? Or are you walking in His ways, or better yet, running in His race? It is very easy to lose momentum and want to sit down for a while, but we must be careful, for that is when the enemy will try to snare you and keep you from getting back up and running again. Sometimes, I feel like I’m walking, but in circles, not really making progress in the tasks God has asked me to do. 2 John 8 says,
“Look to yourselves, that you do not lose those things we worked for, but that you may receive a full reward.”
You have worked hard and endured much to get to this point in your faith walk. You do not want to take two steps forward and one step backward. God has not called us to lose ground, but to continually be advancing forward. And what has the Lord asked of you? “…but to fear the LORD your God, to WALK in ALL His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul…” (Deuteronomy 10:12)
Do you feel like you have been lying face down in the dirt for far too long? Shake yourself! Get up! Get going! Don’t sit down and give opportunity to the devil to hinder you from advancing in your spiritual walk! If you’ve let your Bible reading taper off, pick it back up and dust it off and jump into it again. If your prayer life is stagnant, there is no better time than right now to find a quiet moment to re-open the lines of communication between you and the Lord. If you’ve been finding too many convenient excuses to not attend your congregation weekly, make yourself an appointment to be there this week.
If you are doing well and are spiritually healthy, you have been called to come alongside those who are wavering in their faith, to build them up and help them stir up their fire of devotion into flame once again.
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)
I love you, but the Lord loves you even more!!! Be encouraged today. Keep your chins up and keep up the good work!