In Philippians 1:6 Paul gives this encouragement to the church of believers. He says this, "Being confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."
Ahh... the Lord is always working for our good and His ultimate glory.
And then I read something that struck me in my commentary. It said this, "The object of completing the good work is that it may be ready for the day of Christ."
Wow.
You and I are being readied for the Day of Christ.
This is training ground.
And why is the training so important?
Because this is a battle we're in.
Every day, is a conflict between good and evil. Right and wrong. Holiness and wickedness.
And the Lord, in His kindness, knows how fragile we are. He knows that we are often limited by our weakness and restricted by our human depravity. And so in His sovereignty and grace He's made a way for us to co-labor with Him. He provides us an opportunity to draw nearer to Him through His Spirit so that we can be better prepared for the conflict that lies ahead.
The thing that Paul warns about throughout His teaching is this idea of neglecting our spiritual lives. He says this like, "This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you..." (2 Tim 1:6), and, "We pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so that you will have all the endurance and patience you need..." (Col 1:11), and, "I want you to understand what really matters, so that you will live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return." (Phil 1:10)
We must not wait until it's too late to be ready for the battle. We must have the same determination that David had. 1 Samuel 30 tells us his utter depravity and depression and yet encourages us that he, "... strengthened Himself in the Lord." (vs 6)
Strengthen yourself friends.
Do it now in the calm so that when the storm comes you can be ready.
It really, really matters.
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