Romans 5:7-8  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

THEME OF THE DAY: FOUR LIFE-SHAPING WORDS. We grow weary in the Christian life. We tire of the hard work of denying ourselves for the work of the Gospel, the building up of God’s people, and being faithful to obey His Word when our feelings would rather not. The Apostle Paul told the Galatians, ‘And let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9). Why would he exhort these Christians in such a manner? Because we do grow weary. We are tempted to “give up” or at least take a “vacation” from the demands of the Christian life. We will know how spiritually mature we are by our response when we are weary, don’t feel like obeying, want to lay low and take a break from the race known as “The Christian Life”. We are a people called to a life of faithfulness and that not dependent upon our feelings, emotions, circumstances, or any other factor in our lives. I get a really good assessment of just where I am in my relationship with the Lord by my level of obedience to His Word, not when it is easy, but when it is not. I am able to measure what is the passion of my life – pleasing myself or pleasing my Lord – by how I respond when I don’t “feel” like obeying God’s Word for the sake of Christ, His Gospel, and His people. And there are many times that we are faced with this choice; serving ourselves or denying ourselves. It is extremely important we face this reality of what the call of the Christian life is; self-denial. If we don’t and we allow “feelings-based” obedience to characterize us, or worse, seek to fulfill ourselves instead of denying ourselves, we are starting the path to becoming a God-dishonoring backslider.

So, how can we consistently put self to death and build a life of faithfulness to the Lord through the daily spiritual discipline of self-denial? One way, and I think the chief way, is to remember what Jesus endured to give us the privilege to build a life of faithfulness to Him. When the cry of our flesh screams, “comfort, comfort”’; when the pleasures of the world seek to drag us from Christ; when our zeal for the Gospel weakens; when our love for other believers loses its intensity; when our desire for prayer lacks passion; and when our commitment to sacrificial obedience to God’s Word is not a consuming thought each day of our lives, there are four words which will stop all those early warning signs of being a backslider. They are the concluding words in today’s scripture, ‘Christ died for us.’ At the first sign of a lukewarm heart, get alone with the Lord and mediate upon His sufferings unto death for us. As we do, it won’t be long until the Spirit of God rekindles our hearts with first love for Jesus. This will lead us to lives of joyful sacrifice, enjoyment of Christ over the pleasures of the world, a zeal for the lost, a commitment of love to other believers, a deepening hunger for prayer, and a life consumed with pleasing God by active and purposeful obedience to His Word.

Yes, we do grow weary in the Christian life. Even our Lord Jesus knew extreme weariness, but He persevered in faithful obedience to His Father’s will. And so shall we . . . stay close to the cross of Christ during times of temptation to “cut corners” on our obedience. Keep in our hearts and minds the words, “Christ died for us” and watch how our resolve to overcome weariness deepens. The result will be a glowing testimony of faithfulness before a watching church and world despite our feelings and circumstances.

PRAYER: “Father, may all areas of my life be motivated to live for Your Glory by the truth ‘Christ died for me.”

QUOTE: “When the pull of the world is strong and our zeal for Christ wanes, think what He did. It will change everything.”