Today, Sunday August 8
Practicing Righteousness
1 John 3:9-10 “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”
The evidence or the proof that we are indeed children of God and not of the devil is that we have the grace, the power, and the ability to practice doing what is right according to God’s Word in every situation and every day of our lives! John makes it clear here, that if we do not “practice righteousness” we are not of God.
Right now the World Olympics are taking place. The athletes who are competing have “practiced” for years to perform at their best to win the gold medal. Their “practicing” was not a random or haphazard thing. Every day they disciplined themselves to make the sacrifices, to eat the right foods, to go the extra mile, to endure suffering and pain, to practice and perfect their skills, so that on the day of their competition they could win the crown.
Paul spoke about this in 1 Corinthians 9:24-26, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.”
The crown they win is a corruptible crown and one day it will fade away and be forgotten. I’ve always thought that if they are willing to sacrifice and give their lives to win a prize that will not last, how much more I should be willing to lay down my life for the sake of the Gospel and Jesus Christ to win a prize that will never pass away.
The only thing I can really take into eternity is the precious souls that I bring to Jesus Christ today by living and “practicing righteousness”! Let’s join Paul is saying, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)
What are you “practicing” for today? Something that will “fade” away, or something that will last forever?
God bless!
Comments