Yesterday our pastor gave a great message on focused faith, or enduring faith. The message's main theme was that faith's power lies not in its volume(size, intensity), but rather in its endurance and steadfastness. We will certainly have periods of "great" faith, but its the faith that weathers the storms that lifts us up and keeps us strong. I will link the message once it is available, but one of the points that was brought up is what I want to focus on today.
"Unfocused faith produces unfruitful outcomes" - don't equate fruitfulness with a desirable outcome.
This was a powerful and convicting statement, but one that is very true. How often do we attribute fruitfulness with an outcome that we desire? Fruitfulness is an outcome that God desires and one that accomplishes kingdom purposes. Now sometimes we may have some desirable qualities to it, but we should never limit it to strictly something that is good just for me. It may even be that the road to the fruit is rough, challenging and undesirable; and yet the end point is the goal. It is here that I want to make the link and transition to fitness.
Training, dieting, and overall health maintenance is challenging. Let's face it, it can be downright "undesirable" at points. But is it something we do that is supposed to just feel good and be easy and fun the whole way through, or are there times when we will have to endure? It's a good analogy for our faith. You may not want to go through the difficulty of lifting the weight, the discipline of saying no to the treat, or the challenge of giving up bum time. But when we press through on these things, we see a benefit and a purpose in the outcome. Its the same thing with our faith, when we press in to Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith, we see the fruit and not only us, but more importantly, all those around us benefit from it.
So lets encourage one another, be of strong endurance. Keep focused on the end goal pressing forward and not looking back. Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."
