Scripture:
But now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ]. Philippians 2:12b AMP
Are you spiritually fit or spiritually obese?We make a lot of physical effort to be in good health, stay in shape, eat right, etc. etc. Yet we woefully neglect our inner man. He needs the same exercise regime to be active and keep us hot in things of the spirit. Paul in his teaching, is challenging us to be conscious of working out in the spiritual gym. He's challenging us to have an active spiritual regime, an active routine, to continually work out our salvation. Being saved is the first part but we need to work on it to grow and manifest power. Our spirit man needs to be awake and on fire. Paul goes on to challenge us in cultivating healthy spiritual regimens. He says to us to "cultivate it, bring it into full effect". It's a patient and systemic plan. We don't go to the gym twice and leave because we've completed our health plan. If we want to maintain our weight or health plan, we keep at it. Then he ends by saying "critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ". If we were to follow this teaching of Paul, we wouldn't walk amiss, we wouldn't pray amiss. In fact, at any point in life, we would know if we were walking in the spirit or not. This is a challenging teaching but we can all begin to put it into action. A 5-minute prayer consistently throughout the day will work wonders for your spiritual weight. 3- minutes of intentional praise and worship, will shed off some of that weight. Don't be spiritually obese, join a workout plan.
Let's pray: Father, connect me to your power grid. Give me a booster shot of your power and keep me active in the spirit. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen
