RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

Victory in the Christian life doesn’t begin within us. It’s not within our ability to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and live in the manner that pleases God. It’s God who enables us by His grace to live the way we ought to. We live by faith in God and not in ourselves. It’s absolute dependence upon Him. Yet, there’s a distinct correlation between faith and obedience. Both contain elements of the will. Faith is a choice, while obedience is the outworking action of that choice.
Jesus described those who love Him when He said, “He who has my commandments and keeps them is he who loves me” (John 14:21). It’s easy to say we love Jesus, but the evidence of our love lies in our obedience to Him. We can sing our songs of love and worship, but if they are not accompanied with obedience to His Word, we’re just playing some sort of religious game. To love God is to obey God. Obedience is more than saying I love someone. It’s reaching out to that person through concrete actions.
If I were a rancher and needed to build a fence to keep in the cattle, it would be an act of love for my son to say, “Dad, I’d like to help you build that fence.” It would also be great to hear him say, “Dad, I love you.” But if he went a step further and said, “Dad, I love you — and because of that, I want to pitch in and help you build that fence,” then that would be a great expression of his love.
Jesus has given us commandments. There’s a way of life for the Christian. It’s the walk of obedience. There’s a very interesting thing that takes place when we obey the Word of God. He makes Himself known to us. He discloses Himself to us. In other words, obedience breeds the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of God produces victory. It’s cyclic. The more we obey the Word of God, the more we’re enabled to live a life of victory.
The opposite is also true. When we disobey God, our fellowship with Him is broken. If we continue to live in disobedience, we find ourselves going deeper and deeper in the sinking sands of sin. It becomes more and more difficult to walk in victory. Spiritual strongholds are built in areas of our hearts. Brick by brick, disobedient act by disobedient act, Satan can build a fortress in our hearts. We eventually find ourselves captive to degrading desires and secret sins. Defeat begins to describe our spiritual condition.
There’s only one way out of such a prison. Brick by brick, we must tear down the fortress. One act of obedience followed by another, we will begin to see God’s light — and experience victory. We need not be discouraged by one moment of failure. God has given us clear instructions: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 nasb). When we admit we’ve been wrong and turn from that wrong, God will forgive us, pick us up, and enable us to walk with Him once again.
When my son, Dave, was about one year old, he began to attempt to walk. I’ll never forget that first step. His mother and I were so proud. But as he took that first step, he fell down. Now I didn’t fuss at him. I didn’t say, “What are you doing? Why are you so clumsy?” No. I encouraged him to get up and try again.
He cried a little. But he got back up and tried another step. He kept doing that until he successfully made that first step. Then he tried to take a few steps. He fell again. But he got back up and continued to try to walk. Soon he was walking everywhere … then running … then jumping. It wasn’t long until walking and running became a natural function for him.
The same is true in our Christian life. There will be times of failure. But never forget that God is pulling for you. He’s on your team. He wants you to walk successfully. He’s standing there saying, “Come on, get up. You can do it.” He reaches out His hand to help us up and says, “Now, take another step.”
The more we do that, the more victory we experience. Soon, walking in victory becomes a supernatural, natural way of life. It becomes the norm. Perhaps that’s why the old hymn writer said, “Trust and obey. For there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”