“You have persevered and endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.” (Revelation 2:3, NIV)
We live in a libertarian age. As in the days of the Old Testament judges, people generally live by the adage, “Do as you see fit”—though you’ll often hear it voiced in other terms: “Go with your gut,” “Follow your heart,” “As long as you don’t hurt anyone, do what you want.” The landscape of living is broad.
When we choose to follow Christ, we speak paradoxically of such freedoms. “It is for freedom that we have been set free,” Paul wrote to the Galatians. The Galatians were, he meant, no longer ensnared by their sins, which were revealed to them by the Mosaic law of old—the law does have this powerful purpose. They needed Jesus’ salvation because they had been erring at living out the law the whole of their lives. To suggest that they now attempt a law-abiding perfection was ridiculous. “Go and sin no more,” Jesus had told the woman caught in adultery—but neither he nor Paul ever stopped emphasizing the forgiveness of sin, because no matter how hard we try, we will fail at our own righteousness. To be saved we must cling to the righteousness of Christ.
At the same time, we must be making every effort to move away from sin. “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life,” Paul also told the believers in Galatia (Galatians 6:8). Sin is never a healthy course, much less a God-honoring one!
We might find aid in our thinking by noticing the one-hit wonders on golf’s professional tours. These are players who, in spite of significant unorthodoxies in their swings or deep difficulties with the mental challenges of the game, manage to win a tour event. But there are whispers. Can this possibly be sustained? Surely, this player’s swing can’t hold up under big-time pressure. What of that weak putting game, that fiery temperament, that crazy off-the-course life? All these observations point to the same thing: a longevity of success comes not just from one’s heart but from one’s habits.
In today’s passage, the church in Ephesus was commended by the Lord for enduring, obedient faith. This suggests something beyond a simple “heart nod” to Jesus, where I call myself a believer but show little interest in building on that belief.
To build on our faith takes, first, a recognition of sin’s power to pull us away from God. We do reap what we sow. Then it requires us to make demanding choices for the sake of our growth, no different than the thousands of hours a professional athlete spends “buffeting [his] body” (1 Corinthians 9:27). We do this not for our salvation, but we do it for our sake. We do this so that we do not grow weary in persevering for the name of Jesus. In the end, there is great reward for such endurance (Revelation 14:12-13).
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Jeff Hopper
August 16, 2012
Copyright 2012 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.