"... [W]ork out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12, ESV).
"We must pay the most careful attention ... lest we drift away," (cf. Heb. 2:1, NIV).
This implicates a spiritual workout or making your salvation work by demonstrating it. This entails cultivating your spiritual life by exercising it by developing the spiritual muscles.
There is a vast difference in requirements for the health of an animal and a plant, and even in the extreme case of a mushroom, which can sprout up overnight, and an oak tree which takes 60 years to mature. There are over 11 million varieties of lifeforms on earth, and each one is a living miracle bearing the imprint and identification of God in unique DNA. The Bible says that God cares for and nourishes every animal on earth. He gives them their food in "due season." We are to pay special attention to our spiritual health, which is far more vital than our physical health.
This implicates a spiritual workout or making your salvation work by demonstrating it. This entails cultivating your spiritual life by exercising it by developing the spiritual muscles.
There is a vast difference in requirements for the health of an animal and a plant, and even in the extreme case of a mushroom, which can sprout up overnight, and an oak tree which takes 60 years to mature. There are over 11 million varieties of lifeforms on earth, and each one is a living miracle bearing the imprint and identification of God in unique DNA. The Bible says that God cares for and nourishes every animal on earth. He gives them their food in "due season." We are to pay special attention to our spiritual health, which is far more vital than our physical health.
Even exercise is good to a degree, but spiritual discipline is better for eternal value. Promoting spiritual health is much like promoting mental health--you concentrate on occupation with the therapeutic activities or things that have positive results, rather than getting hung up trying to analyze yourself or figure yourself out. It is paramount that we know God, not ourselves to commence our healing.
We all need spiritual check-ups by fellowshipping with other believers and going to church. There are no spiritual Lone Rangers or lone wolves, nor are we rocks or islands, but we all are members of one body and need each other, no one person possessing all the gifts. We are family, as they say.
Church provides us with a wake-up call to assess our spiritual health and to hone our spiritual gifts and gives us the opportunity to serve and to get our eyes off ourselves in love's expression through faith. Our wake-up call is a self-exam, we don't go around judging each other, but become fruit inspectors, i.e., of our own fruit! Church provides the chance to recharge, especially for those who don't have the spiritual support system that comes with Christian friends, family, and associates.
We all need spiritual check-ups by fellowshipping with other believers and going to church. There are no spiritual Lone Rangers or lone wolves, nor are we rocks or islands, but we all are members of one body and need each other, no one person possessing all the gifts. We are family, as they say.
Church provides us with a wake-up call to assess our spiritual health and to hone our spiritual gifts and gives us the opportunity to serve and to get our eyes off ourselves in love's expression through faith. Our wake-up call is a self-exam, we don't go around judging each other, but become fruit inspectors, i.e., of our own fruit! Church provides the chance to recharge, especially for those who don't have the spiritual support system that comes with Christian friends, family, and associates.
We don't just go through the motions or memorize the Dance of the Pious to do this but engage in sincere, unfeigned worship. This recharging doesn't happen instantaneously but is a process and we do see growth as a work in progress. In celebrating the Lord's Supper we are reminded of what our covenant stands for and to examine ourselves on a regular basis, so as not to forget our mission and why we are here: We are to be believers with a purpose.
The only true measure of faith is obedience and discipleship and following in Christ's steps are mandatory to growth. We are to go on and never look back because as we turn from our former way of life (a turnaround), we turn to God and experience revival in the process; however, repentance is not a one-time act but a continual one of obedience as we grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
We all must experience growing pains and God never promised us a bed of roses: Growth and walking with Christ means going forward, and backsliding happens when we fail to advance and continue on to know the Lord. There is no treading water or holding your ground without progress--we lose our power due to negligence; we drift away from God, we don't turn from Him, that is why it's so necessary to be active in the body and not think you can survive solo.
In conclusion, we must take inventory of ourselves. There are accepted and proven methodologies to ensure spiritual hygiene: regular corporate and private worship as a gyroscope of the soul; daily Bible reading and exposure to be a thermometer of our walk; continuing in fellowship with brethren to keep us in touch and from wandering astray; keeping short accounts with God on failures and sins by confession; be constant in prayer (one of the acid tests of true spirituality); offering yourself totally to God's service; and finally, witnessing (as an act of obedience; the only way to keep your faith is to share it!). Doing nothing is a catastrophe, just like not gardening and the weeds begin to take over; we need to show forth the works of salvation and do a spiritual workout to stay fit for the kingdom. Soli Deo Gloria!
The only true measure of faith is obedience and discipleship and following in Christ's steps are mandatory to growth. We are to go on and never look back because as we turn from our former way of life (a turnaround), we turn to God and experience revival in the process; however, repentance is not a one-time act but a continual one of obedience as we grow in the grace and the knowledge of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
We all must experience growing pains and God never promised us a bed of roses: Growth and walking with Christ means going forward, and backsliding happens when we fail to advance and continue on to know the Lord. There is no treading water or holding your ground without progress--we lose our power due to negligence; we drift away from God, we don't turn from Him, that is why it's so necessary to be active in the body and not think you can survive solo.
In conclusion, we must take inventory of ourselves. There are accepted and proven methodologies to ensure spiritual hygiene: regular corporate and private worship as a gyroscope of the soul; daily Bible reading and exposure to be a thermometer of our walk; continuing in fellowship with brethren to keep us in touch and from wandering astray; keeping short accounts with God on failures and sins by confession; be constant in prayer (one of the acid tests of true spirituality); offering yourself totally to God's service; and finally, witnessing (as an act of obedience; the only way to keep your faith is to share it!). Doing nothing is a catastrophe, just like not gardening and the weeds begin to take over; we need to show forth the works of salvation and do a spiritual workout to stay fit for the kingdom. Soli Deo Gloria!