Doing the Hard Work

In life one very soon realizes that if you do not work hard , you will not achieve your goal. That could be losing weight , learning guitar,painting,getting better grades etc... on and on the list could go. I will not put getting that promotion because as I'm sure we all know, that in the real world many factors can come in to play with that one  .

But when it comes to personal growth , hard work is a guaranteed  pay off. If you pick up a guitar and read the books about playing or watch videos , you will get better . I can recall a story about some famous violinist and when asked apparently about his skill and talent , he basically said it was mostly due to practice. To hard work . No short cuts .

Now if one is to work hard at a skill , I believe it has to fire the passions . If you do not have a heart for cooking,playing a instrument , a sport or whatever , you will not stay with it . Even in school , people who have a heart for the arts perform better than those who don't and the same with sciences . Sure you can still do well by study and work but once you are left to your own , you will not be picking up a art or scientific journal unless it gets your blood going .


It is no different when it comes growing as a Christian . After one repents and trust in Jesus , way too many  start to live their lives on auto pilot . They reason , well the Holy Spirit will lead me , help me grow. But God has given us His word which needs to be studied and elders ,teachers instruct  . The fact that God communicates in word supports the very idea of study.
[The Fellowship of the Believers]
    [42] And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
(Acts 2:42 ESV) Here we read very early that as the Church was being established one of the basic things was that they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching. In our contemporary setting , this is the Bible . I said before if one wants to learn , you have to have a passion . Should not a Christian burn with a heart of love and desire to know the Lord who has saved his/her soul from the wrath to come. In order to learn of what God has done , one must get to kn ow him.

In some ways its like when you first starting dating . When you fall in love and begin courtship , you want to spend time with her , talk with her , be with her as much as you can . You talk , you listen and you grow in your knowledge of your love. After you are married , you still need to spend time , to talk , to listen. If you say you truly love her /him you want to be with them . Should it not be the same with God. Making time is work . It will not come unless you work at it .

The other thing apart from the word is solid books of men of God who have been placed in the lives of Christian throughout history as preachers and elders. Men who have been gifted by God to instruct and teach . They are not to take rule over the word , but we honor the fact God call them to help us grow . They are to shepherd and lead the flock . They answer themselves to the Great Shepherd  , but we need them . Any one who says , well I just need the Bible , is ignorant of how God can help us grow  through these men  who have bled and gave themselves as students of word to our benefit.

Last we need to work hard because it pays off. We need to go deeper . Not cheery picking the Bible but reading it all . We need to read solid books from thinkers who will challenge us and lead us to a deeper knowledge of God . Having a solid theology , yes I said that word , will ground us when the world turns dark , when the wheels fall off. There are no short cuts . There are no excuses . If Jesus came to die , left His throne and condescended to save a wretch like you and me , what can we say . Sorry I was watching the latest sports event , or my work is too busy. Really ! We have all been there .

But the pay off is huge . Every time Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan he wielded the word of God . Empowered by the Holy Spirit , the word of God is the sword of the Spirit. The sword is not only a defensive weapon but an offensive one. We need to be a skilled wielder . Just like a master swordsmen , a Musketeer if you will , a William Wallace , it comes by working hard at learning the word .Letting it master us , that when we are tempted by our flesh,the world or the Devil we will wield it well due to our hard work . Like I said , if God is your first love , it will be hard work that will feel like nothing.

No short cuts  , no let god and let God . So lets flex some spiritual muscle and get engaged .