07/03/2019
Is your faith consistent and always looking out at the sun from the mountaintop, or do you go up the mountain only to slide back down a ways and then begin the climb again? Do you find that you can’t hold onto the joy of those amazing days of faith, and find yourself slipping back towards your old sinful self? Well, maintaining our faith requires us to be more than a pine branch in a fire that pops and cracks as it burns bright for a moment... then dies quickly down.
“And the ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows. And Pharaoh awoke.”
Genesis 41:4 ESV
This was the pharaoh’s dream regarding a coming famine; it is warning him that inattention now will cause starvation later, and we receive the same warnings concerning our spiritual lives as well. Charles Spurgeon realized this to be true, and it unsettled him in his walk with the Lord, thus he wrote about it in this way...
“If I neglect prayer for ever so short a time, I lose all the healthy spirituality I had attained; if I draw no fresh supplies from heaven, the old corn in my barn is soon consumed by the famine raging in my soul” - Charles Spurgeon
Spirituality is like running, we spend many months training for a race and getting into great shape. Our body reaches its pinnacle of fitness as we obtain a peak of fitness and endurance, but once we have achieved our goal, and the race is run, we relax our training schedule, and in a short time we have lost our competitive edge. Then, after a bit longer without practice, we have not only lost all of our hard earned summit, but we have lost the desire to pursue it as well.
“Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!”
Psalms 119:17-19 ESV
Maintaining our focus on the Lord requires effort; it requires us to be attentive at all times to our spirituality, and it requires that we receive help from, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as we walk the Way of Our Faith. This is such a common problem among those of faith that much effort has been put into warning us to avoid it. Many books, articles, blogs, and sermons have been written to reminding us of this pitfall, and to giving us advice regarding how to maintain our focus on Christ. Paul gave us advice regarding this as well...
“pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 ESV
The interesting thing about this passage is that we often see the first verse as if it were an invitation to failure; how can I possible pray without ceasing we ask ourselves. I try, and then I awaken to find that I went a time without prayer... and Satan, the liar, tells me “See, He asks you to do the impossible.”
In fact, the Greek word used here, and translated as “not ceasing” doesn’t mean continuous, or without stopping, but rather it means “constantly reoccurring.” By necessity, our faith needs to be fed, but just as our bodies require us to eat healthy meals on a regular schedule, so our spiritual life needs regular, and nutritious meals to sustain itself.
So to maintain our faith we don’t build our fire with pine boughs that require constant stoking as they flare up and die down, but with oak and other hardwoods that allow us to feed the fire regularly, and then to serve the Lord in our lives between those feedings... set routine, and achievable, times to pray then stick to them. Go to church on a set schedule. Attend a midweek Bible study, or maintain an association with other Christians... well, you get the point... eat regular spiritual meals, and stoke the fire of your faith with the long burning wood of God’s Word.
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Micah 6:8 ESV
Jesus gave of the two great commandments, Micah speaks to us of God’s instruction, in both cases we are told to do things... Jesus said to Love, and in Micah we are told to do justice, love, and walk. This is how we maintain our faith... by practice and repetition. We should regularly attend to the instruction in God’s Word, and if we do this then our fire will burn hot and long. If we regularly read God’s Word, and carry its warmth within us, the flames of our faith will remain bright, and our joy full.
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for your Holy Word, and the nourishment my life of Faith obtains from it. I thank you for my regular feedings as I attend to my prayers, praise, and worship. I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who walks with me before you, and your Holy Spirit that brings all things concerning your Word to my remembrance. Help me Father to maintain my regiment of prayer, and the times I have set aside to study your Word. Help me Merciful Father to show kindness to others, and to serve the least of your children on a regular basis. Give me the gifts of the Spirit that I need to do your will, and set aside the time I need to accomplish it. I praise you Heavenly Father for the training you provide me in faith that opens my eyes to every good thing, and which sees me through the bad, and hard things of life in this world. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who redeems me through your grace as it flows through Christ. Great are you who makes it possible for me to worship you, and love you every day. All glory is yours Father as I come to you in prayer, worship, and praise... all in their set time, and uninterrupted by neglect.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”
Hebrews 12:1 ESV
Rich Forbes