Do It Again

Dear Friends,

One of the passages that the Lord regularly brings to my mind is 2 Thessalonians 3:13, which says, “Dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.” And as you can probably guess, God reminds me of this passage when I need it most - when I start to give up on “doing good”. Now, before we go any further, let me make it clear that when I say “doing good”, I’m not talking about doing things to try and earn our salvation. Instead, I’m talking about the on-going call we have to live each day in a way that pleases God and reflects Him well to others.

So it’s being loving and patient and kind, when we feel like being anything but that. It’s serving others when we feel tired. It’s forgiving the folks that are the hardest to forgive. It’s remembering that our lives are supposed to be about God, and not us. It’s all those things - and so much more - that make up the Christian life. Those are the things that we so easily can get tired of doing.

Which means that, one of the biggest questions Christians face is “How?” How do we continue to do what God has called us to do - day in, and day out – on the days we feel like it, and on the days we don’t? Well, believe it or not, the answer is actually pretty simple. We do it one day at a time. Here’s what I mean by that: in order to finish anything we start, we need to daily practice the very thing that we've started. It’s the key for anyone trying to change their behavior - from the drug addict or alcoholic, to someone trying to lose weight or get fit, to someone trying to learn a new language or skill. And it's the key for Christians as well.

Our growth as children of God happens one day at a time, as we commit to following God each morning, and then rely on Him throughout the day to give us the strength to keep doing it. It’s getting up every morning and asking God for the desire and strength to follow Him, no matter how we feel. And then it's persevering in that commitment as challenges come our way. It’s turning to God when we're feeling weak and asking Him to give us the strength to persevere. And then it's getting up the next morning and doing it all over again. In this way, we can literally follow our Lord one day at a time, living how He's called us to live.

So today, let's do this. Let’s ask God to help us not get tired of doing what's right. Let’s ask Him to give us the strength to finish today well, and then let's get up tomorrow and ask Him to help us do it all again – for our good and His glory.

Amen?

Daniel