Towards the end of his life, Paul said that he had "fought the good fight of faith." (2 Tim. 4:7), and previously, he had commanded his younger fellow follower of Jesus to continue to fight the good fight of faith (1 Tim. 6:12).
Lord, How do we do this?
As a younger guy who keeps getting older, I'm stumbling upon this rather (un)profound truth: if we're going to "go the distance," we have to keep going. The only way to fight the good fight of faith is to keep standing in gospel (Eph. 6:13-14), the truth that Jesus and He alone has paid for the guilt of my sins before God. The truth that in Him, I am a son of the Most High, and will eternally and forever be His. The truth that I am saved not by good deeds done in righteousness, but according to His great mercy (Titus 3:4-5). Day by day, step by step, we need to stand in His gospel. If we do this, we will find ourselves at the "end," when He calls us home before we know it.
The goal of life is Jesus. Paul said in Phil. 1:21, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." That is, if I'm going to live on in this body, it will be to know Christ more. I can trust Him for that. Whenever I leave this body, it will be even greater gain as He brings me into His presence completely and for eternity.
Oh, what a day that will be!
Until then, it's a fight to rest in the God I can't see and trust in the Lord who is returning soon.
Lord Jesus, help our unbelief, but thank you for making me believe. Let me fight the good fight of faith today. Let me do that tomorrow, too.
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