While I was visiting with my sister-in-law, their home phone rang. Since I was the one closest to the phone I picked it up. But to my frustration and irritation I realized I could not determine which button to push to answer the call. You see, my eyesight is not as clear as it used to be. And so the symbols on the buttons were all blurry. I had to ask my wife Grace to push the right button. As it turned out, the call was actually for me.
After the call, I once again faced the frustration of not being able to see the buttons well. As I was expressing my frustration, I also came to the realization I was actually holding my eyeglasses with my other hand! When I said, “Oh, I have my glasses right here,” two of my nieces who were present burst out laughing. And Grace promptly joined them.
Reflecting back on that incident, I got to thinking about how often we fail to do our tasks, or to do them well, for the very simple reason that we do not take hold of the resources that are so readily available to us. And one most important task for followers of Jesus is that of living a life worthy of our faith. Scripture tells us: “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1.3 NIV).
True followers of Christ have the Holy Spirit in them (1 Corinthians 2.12). And the Spirit guides us into all truth (John 16.13) and empowers us to live out that truth and to serve the Lord faithfully (Acts 1.8; 1 Corinthians 12.7-11). We must learn to submit to the Spirit’s work in our lives.
And we also have the written Word. Scripture is one resource that is so obvious yet so often neglected. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3.16–17 NIV). We must grow in our knowledge and understanding of Scripture, and make sure to put into practice what we learn.
Then there are the spiritual disciplines—worship and prayer (both individually and with other believers), fasting, solitude, fellowship, service, study, simplicity, etc. These are often neglected, considered as optional to Christian living. Yet the fact that Scripture points us to these practices must cause us to seriously consider them as essential to the Christian life.
Finally, fellow believers who can give godly encouragement and, sometimes, the rebuke that we need to stay the course of godliness. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10.24 NIV). This is what a discipleship group is all about.
We have everything we need for godliness. No excuses, please.
—Keith Jainga