Many believers lead their Christian lives without having a purpose. Many also have the wrong belief that as they have become Christians, life should be easy, without any hitch… And, the sad truth is that nowadays, our churches promote self-help methods more than the truth about Christianity: Jesus said His followers should carry their cross! And not understanding this produces frustrated, depressed Christians who are eager to drop when not seeing things move or change in their lives right away. My brother, my sister, the Bible says, we perish for lack of knowledge. If you have understood that committing yourself to the Christian life means following the rules prescribed in God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:5), then you also understand that you need a great amount of training, which takes time, dedication, energy, continued practice and vision… just like an athlete training for a competition. Therefore, your goal as a believer, as you train yourself to run the race of life, is to keep your eyes set on Christ, to avoid being sidetracked or slowed down. To do this, you need to keep exercising to remain phyically and spiritually fit, developing your faith to become a better Christian, living in accordance with God’s will. Why? Because such a life is the kind that attracts others to Christ and is rewarding in both this life and the next. In short, as believers, we should always keep in mind that Christian life is a fight against evil forces from without and temptation from within. And, when we manage to stay true to the Lord through it all, He does not only promise and end to it all, but also rest and a crown. That’s our goal as believers! And as Apostle Paul, every faithful believer should be able to say in the end: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Stay blessed in Jesus’ name. [facebook] [retweet]