Faith Requires Training – Sunday Thought For The Day

One doesn’t become strong in the faith without the training that comes through adversity, and spending time every day with God. Reading the bible, studying the bible, and  faithfully attending a Christ-centered church gives us the “spiritual carbohydrates” needed for the endurance of life that lies in front of us.

Just as an athlete cannot hope to be competitive, much less be consistent/excel without strenuous training and strict attention to the special dietary needs, neither can we hope to walk with the Lord in a victorious way without spiritual training and a spiritual diet.

Every athlete who strives to excel will speak about the joy of the pain that comes from training in preparation to compete.  They will tell you the actual competition is the easier part; it’s the training and discipline that they enjoy most. It may seem counter-intuitive in thought but the facts are simple; you cannot finish strong if you do not prepare.

If our desire is to live a life of victory in Christ Jesus and to be used by Him, we must ask God to please give the hunger and thirst for Him that is synonymous with training.  When we
stand face-to-face before the Lord it is not for a medal, but to hear Him say: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (See: Matthew 25:23)

READ:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (KJV)

24 Know ye not that they who run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible.

26 I, therefore, so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the the air;

1 Timothy 4:8 (KJV)

8 For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.