Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
When I was a kid, our family had an old blue pickup. It was a sidestep Chevy from the 1950s, with a push starter that was located on the floorboard of the truck. I can faintly remember that it had throttle and choke adjustments right on the dash, that you could engage when you started the motor. It was a good running vehicle but the gear ratio on it was so low that you could only do about 50 miles an hour on the highway. But the one thing I remember most about this truck was that it took quite a bit of effort to steer as you drove it down the road. Unlike modern day vehicles that are equipped with hydraulics to assist you, this one had manual steering, and it required some extra physical effort to keep it on the road.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
While many people in this world have become accustomed to driving with the luxuries of power steering, true Christianity will require a lot more struggle than that. Our path is on a different road, and in a different vehicle. To enter eternal life will require great effort, just like using the manual steering on that old blue pickup.
“Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” Luke 13:24
When you strive, you are going to make great efforts to achieve and obtain something. It is to work really hard at obtaining a goal without giving up or giving in. Each day there are many people in this world who apply this basic principle to their own lives. Some of them want the best house on the block. Others try to obtain the highest positions in their company. College students might strive to graduate the highest in their class. High school students might try to be the best athlete in school. But in order to obtain eternal life, we must do the same thing. You will have to desire it above and beyond everything else in this world. Other concerns will take a back seat in comparison to the final goal that you want to obtain.
“Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.” Colossians 1:29
We must be completely focused on the race ahead of us. Some people will enter a marathon just for fun, but Christianity is a race that you must run with the intention of winning. That puts a whole different perspective on things.
“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” 1 Corinthians 9:24
Once you begin striving to win, you will begin passing others by. You will begin shortening the gap on the leaders. When they begin to tire out, your Spiritual stamina will drive you harder and further beyond the rest. The Apostle Paul ran hard for the Lord, and look what happened in his life.
“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” 1 Corinthians 15:10
There are many medals and trophies in this world that people have won by striving hard to achieve them. Many kings have sought diligently to obtain an Earthly crown, but to obtain eternal life requires seeking after a crown that will never fade away. This will be an everlasting crown of Glory, awarded to the obedience servants of Jesus Christ.
“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” 1 Corinthians 9:25
To obtain eternal life you must be an extremely.high achiever, because this is the greatest race that you could ever enter. The goal is perfection and the prize is salvation! We are called to be the best that we can be, in regards to our faithful obedience to the teachings of Christ.
“…….and this also we wish, even your perfection.” 2 Corinthians 13:9
……..unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:” Ephesians 4:13
We must work hard to become perfect in God’s sight. We must do it for the sake of our precious Lord Jesus, who through His grace, gives us the an opportunity to enter the race
“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” 2 Peter 3:14
Some people will miss out on eternal life because they only made a half-hearted attempt at the Christian Life. To strive means fighting vigorously to win! Have you ever had a huge fish on your line, but as you began reeling it in, you could feel it struggle harder than anything you had caught before? You had never felt a fish fight so hard to get off the hook. The battle was on as he pulled you to the left and then back to the right, doing whatever he could to slip away. You begin to get tired, but he will not give in, and before you knew it, they snapped the line because they had fought such a good fight!
“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12
Whenever I got behind the wheel of that old blue Chevy pickup, it was quite different from driving with the pleasures of power steering. It could be quite a struggle to get down the road. The Christian Life is no different. This life isn’t a piece of cake, and the devil is going to throw all kinds of temptations at you. You will have to suffer and deal with all kinds of wickedness, even from your own family members. There are going to be numerous difficulties that you will have to encounter and overcome. Like a soldier fighting in a jungle, the Christian Life is not going to be easy. True men of God have always been hated and despised because they stand up for scriptural truth, when others will not. To obtain the world that is coming, we must strive with all of our might, contending for the one true faith, and opposing everything that comes against it!
So I guess when it comes down to it, becoming a Christian is very much like getting out of your new car, and getting into that old pickup. You’re just going to have to get used to…..
……. Manual Steering
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
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Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 