The Importance of Maintaining
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter. Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them. And let ours also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful. All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.”
Titus 3:12–15
Dr. D. J. Fleming who worked as a medical missionary in both India and China recounted a powerful story from the Boxer Rebellion that swept over China. The movement was violently anti-foreign and anti-Christian, and when the soldiers captured one town they came to a mission school for children. They placed a cross on the ground by the gate and announced that those who would trample over the cross would be free to go. The first seven children walked on the cross and were spared, but the eighth, a young girl dropped to her knees. For her refusal to trample on the cross, she was shot. Every remaining student followed her example and died rather than deny their faith.
There are many who start out well and continue on the right path for a little while. But when the pressure is on, and their faith may actually cost them something, they wilt and turn back. “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia” (2 Timothy 4:10). None of us are immune from this temptation. The devil knows that if he can make the cost of doing right high enough, many will falter. God is looking for people who not only do what is right, but who continue to do so no matter what comes. The Christian life is not a sprint, and we are called to maintain until we reach the end.
Titus 3:12–15
Dr. D. J. Fleming who worked as a medical missionary in both India and China recounted a powerful story from the Boxer Rebellion that swept over China. The movement was violently anti-foreign and anti-Christian, and when the soldiers captured one town they came to a mission school for children. They placed a cross on the ground by the gate and announced that those who would trample over the cross would be free to go. The first seven children walked on the cross and were spared, but the eighth, a young girl dropped to her knees. For her refusal to trample on the cross, she was shot. Every remaining student followed her example and died rather than deny their faith.
There are many who start out well and continue on the right path for a little while. But when the pressure is on, and their faith may actually cost them something, they wilt and turn back. “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia” (2 Timothy 4:10). None of us are immune from this temptation. The devil knows that if he can make the cost of doing right high enough, many will falter. God is looking for people who not only do what is right, but who continue to do so no matter what comes. The Christian life is not a sprint, and we are called to maintain until we reach the end.
Today’s Growth Principle:
Do not settle for less than finishing your course through a life victoriously committed to doing right.
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