Keep on Keeping On
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
—2 Timothy 4:7
I was being interviewed on a Christian radio program one day when a listener called in and asked, “Does there come a point in the Christian life when somehow you just don’t get tempted anymore to think evil thoughts?”
I said, “Yes, it’s funny you should ask that, because I just reached that point yesterday. It’s great.” I was kidding him, of course.
In reality, the battle will not end until we are safe in the arms of Jesus. That is why we need to put our armor on. As we are told in Ephesians 6:11, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
Wouldn’t it be great to think that you could reach a plateau at a certain point in your life as a believer where you would no longer be vulnerable? The truth is, the fight will rage on until the final day.
The Christian life not only has been compared to a battle, but also to a race. The kind of race the apostle Paul was probably describing in 2 Timothy was a circuit filled with obstacles. There were numerous hurdles and obstacles in Paul’s life that he had dealt with, ranging from persecution resulting in physical danger to his personal thorn in the flesh, some type of physical infirmity or problem.
Not only that, but Paul was a wanted man, hunted like an animal. His life was rough at times. Even so, he said, “I have finished the race” (2 Timothy 4:6).
The Christian life is a constant process of moving forward. And the moment you stop moving forward, you will start moving backward.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org.
Copyright © 2006 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.