Today we begin a new message series which I’ve entitled “Faith Workout.” Faith is essential to the Christian life. In fact the Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God. Therefore if you want to have a relationship with God in this life and for eternity, you’ve got to have faith. But what is faith? How does faith work itself out in the lives of a believer? How can your faith grow stronger?
In this message series, we’re going to learn that faith is not just a simple prayer that you pray once and forget about. Faith is not just saying you believe something and living life anyway you please. No, faith is something that you live out in your life. Faith is something that you believe in so strongly that the whole course of your life is altered. Faith is something that grows stronger as you exercise it. The Bible likens a life of faith to a race. NIV 1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. It’s not enough to begin the race of faith, you’ve got to finish it in order to get the prize. If you drop out of the face, if you don’t persevere, you miss the prize. What’s the prize? It’s eternal life with God forever. Miss that prize and you’ve lost everything.
So how should we run in such a way to get the prize? The next verse says, NIV 1 Corinthians 9:25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. You need to have strict training, you need to workout your faith. That’s what this series is all about. In this series, we’re going to go through the book of James in the New Testament and see how you can get a faith workout. The goal is to help each of us understand what faith is all about and to help us strengthen that faith. I want each of you to one day receive a crown that will last forever, Jesus wants you to get the prize at the end of the race.
Today, our message is “No Pain, No Gain.” Now the title is not a quote from a Bible verse, but before we’re through this morning, I think you’ll agree it captures what God is saying. No pain, no gain means that without some pain, without some testing, without some trials, there is no growth in your life. We all want life to be a bed of roses, but that kind of life does not lead to a strong faith. Therefore God makes sure that the life of His followers is not a bed of roses. He makes sure that there is some pain and trials mixed in as faith resistance training for you and me. Once you see how God is training you, just like a coach trains an athlete, you begin to understand that life is really a faith workout. Today, we’re going to look at faith exercises that will help you grow stronger and persevere in the race of life.
To hear more about this topic, listen to my August 5, 2007 message entitled No Pain No Gain
I like this metaphor, but God is more than a coach training us… and so maybe not all of life is a discipline or exercise but perhaps much more… or much less.