What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
--Philippians 4:9
People live for all kinds of things. Some believe life is about pleasure, parties, and fun—just being happy. Others go hard after careers, possessions, and climbing the ladder of success.
You probably know some people who believe that fame, power, and wealth are all that matter. There is nothing particularly wrong with any one of these, but they should not be the sum of life, especially for a believer in Christ.
One day, when this life is over, each of us will give an account to the Lord for our lives. Make no mistake, He won’t be looking at our financial portfolio. All the money, power, and fame accumulated over the years will disappear and be forgotten the day we stand before Christ. The things that excite us today will be left behind tomorrow.
Like the apostle Paul, we need to pursue those things that will bring glory to God. And we should model those things in how we live so that we can say, like Paul, that other Christians ought to live like we do if they want to honor God.
What a different focus and a different drive than the world around us! Rather than our goal in life being to exalt our own name or fame, as Christians, our goal is to bring the name of the Lord fame.
So let me ask you. What are you pursuing today? What motivates you? Can you say, like Paul, “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things”?
Model For Others How The Christian Life Ought To Be Lived.
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”
1 Peter 5:8–10
During the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, the great Kenyan runner Bernard “Kip” Lagat was interviewed. At one point the reporter asked him why his country produced so many champion distance runners. With a smile, Lagat replied that they had a special motivation in his nation for success in running—the signs placed along the roads where the runners trained that said, “Beware of Lions.”
All of us are called by God to run the race of the Christian life. If we are to run successfully, we must never forget the enemy who stalks our path. This knowledge should motivate us to stay as close to Christ as we can and faithfully run our race. It only takes a brief moment of taking our eyes off Jesus for us to be drawn away and devoured. Like a lion, the devil desires to destroy us and render us ineffective for God’s service. We need to take the warnings seriously.
Peter experienced this truth firsthand. Before his betrayal of the Lord, Jesus had warned him of the danger. “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat” (Luke 22:31). Yet in his self-confidence, Peter vowed that even if everyone else forsook Christ, he would remain faithful. He did not. Instead, Peter denied even knowing who Jesus was. Realizing that Satan is focused on our destruction is a daily necessity for victory in the Christian life.
Today’s Growth Principle:
If we let down our guard, forgetting that Satan desires to destroy us, disaster will follow.
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