Now that I have “tasted that the Lord is gracious,”
I
will intensely crave “the sincere milk of the word”
so I may continue to grow
spiritually (1 Peter 2:2-3; Matthew
5:6).
I must remember that when I am young and weak in the faith, I am in a
vulnerable stage of my development. Satan wants to steal the Word out
of my
heart, or otherwise render me unable to produce fruit for God (cf. Matthew 13:18-23). Jesus
said, “Herein is my
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my
disciples” (John
15:8). I must remember it is the Word of God that brought me to this
point, and
it is the Word of God that will move me along in my spiritual
development and
fortify my faith (2 Timothy 3:14-17).
Now that I have learned of God’s love for me, I want to
love him back and prove my love for him (John 3:16; 1 John 4:19). I am able
to demonstrate my love for God by
drawing nearer to him as James instructs his readers to do in his
epistle (James
4:8). Further, I will seek his counsel, walk in it, and obey his Son
(John
14:15), whom he has made Lord (Acts 2:36), and the Head of the church
(Ephesians 1:22-23). I will not be deceived by satisfaction in hearing
only. I
will be a doer of the Word (James 1:22).
Now that I am washed, sanctified and justified through
Jesus’ blood in his offering of Himself, I will no longer
engage in any works
of the flesh such as fornication, adultery or homosexuality (1
Corinthians
6:9-11). Since I have been bought with a price, I do not own myself. I
now
belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:15-20). I must refuse any temptation to
abuse
God’s grace by continuing in a lifestyle of sin. I am now
dead to sin, but
alive to God’s power of righteousness (Romans 6:1-2). Any sin
or work of the
flesh that keeps me from being solely under the power and influence of
Jesus
Christ is something I must put away from self. This also includes
beverage
alcohol and illegal substances. Through the Gospel, God will empower me
to
overcome all forms of sin and vice so that sin no more has dominion
over me
(Romans 6:14). Now that I have learned that my sins put Jesus on the
cross, I
will not crucify him over and over again and put him to shame (Hebrews
6:6; Isaiah 53:6).
Now that I know God has revealed himself not only
through nature, but through the Holy Scriptures and that He alone is
worthy of
praise and honor, I will assemble together with God’s
children upon the first
day of the week to worship him “in spirit and in
truth” (John 4:24; Hebrews
10:25). I will worship him in view of the
fact that He seeks true worshippers and with a knowledge that we tend
to become
like that which we worship.
Now that I know that Heaven awaits those who love God,
who befriend his Son and follow him in truth and righteousness, I will
follow
him in fighting the good fight of faith every day of my life. I will
pursue Heaven’s
gate with vigor (Hebrews 11:10).
