This week’s devotions are based on “The Key” Week 4: “Share Grace!” (WATCH HERE)
This is random.
There have been a few occasions where I thought, “It would be cool to run a marathon.” My second thought was, “I could just sign up and run one.” My third thought was, “I would never finish.”
The desire to run a marathon isn’t very strong in me, but it seems like a feat of physical accomplishment that could be kind of a cool thing to say that you ran a marathon. However it is obviously foolish to enter a marathon race and expect to finish without going through any training time period. The thought is noble. The execution is poor.
Wouldn’t it be cool to share your faith, share grace, and have many people put their trust in Jesus?
This is a more viable thought than wanting to run a marathon, however, the end result will be the same if no training is under taken. To WANT to share your faith without TRAINING to share your faith will usually end in NOT sharing your faith.
If you search on the internet for , “How to train for a marathon?” you will find a number of different plans and regimens to prepare your body for the grueling 26 mile race.
But what about sharing your faith? What is the training plan for that?
Perhaps often, we are simply encouraged, “Share your faith” without clear direction and training to do so. Our assumption is that we can “just do it.”
Maybe in a small way this is true as I believe God has given each of us his grace and the impact of it and so we can “Always be ready to give an answer to the one who asks.” Yet the Apostle Paul knows, like any good marathon coach, that living and believing Jesus is something we can get better at with proper training. He writes to Timothy (4:6-10)
6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters,[a] you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. 10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.
Training for athletic competition means eating the right foods, adding strength and skill to your sport and carrying the right heart and mindset as you compete. In a similar way, the Apostle Paul encourages Timothy and all of us to do three things:
- Be nourished on the truth of God.
- Train in godliness
- Put your hope in the living God.
Like food, nourishment for our souls is important. The truth of God’s word must find its way inside of our hearts each and every day. We don’t want processed or refined truth, just the plain, all natural, truth that God gives us in his Holy Word.
We need to then get into the gym of life and practice what we are learning from the Lord in his Word. Train in godliness. You want your spiritual muscles to grow so that in every circumstance of life you are able to perform at your best.
And you want your heart in the right place. Put your hope in the living God. This grounding keeps you going when the challenges of living and growing your faith become hard and real.
So be ready to share grace…eat God’s truth…train in godliness…put your hope in the living God.
Apply: As you consider the aspects of training for sharing grace, which of the one that presents the greatest challenge for you?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the opportunity to share your grace. Spirit of God, give me strength and determination to “do time in the spiritual gym” so I am best suited for sharing your grace! AMEN.