By TONY HOSS
Perhaps you’ve seen this quote on a church sign, “Seven Days Without God Makes One Weak.” The statement has a lot to do with the health of our spiritual life. Thus it questions how we manage the daily problems we face in life. There is no doubt that many people struggle when Satan attacks them. The faith of many is weakened or even destroyed when Satan employs his many wiles. Peter said, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. (7) Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. (8) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:6-8 KJV). Seeing that we face such a formidable adversary Paul said, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11 KJV).
Because of the previous it is imperative that we do all we can to remain strong. When we live our lives without God there is no doubt that we can become spiritually weak which can lead to spiritual death. Peter in 2 Peter 2, shows us the dangers of spiritual weakness. When we live our lives without God it is easy to slip back into the world of sin. Therefore Paul reminds us in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin are spiritual death.
There is however a solution to this problem of sin and weakness in the lives of Christians. First we must have a balanced and continual diet of God’s Word. Consider the following: According to Acts 17:11, the Bereans remained strong in the faith due to their study of God’s Word. Also, the first century Christians remain strong because they sought to study and be taught daily. We learn in Acts 5:42 KJV, “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”
Second we need spiritual encouragement from like minded brethren in the form of fellowship. Fellowshipping with the saints equips us to withstand the onslaught of Satan’s attacks upon us. For this reason, first century Christians studied and fellowshipped one with another (Acts 2:42). Then the writer of the Hebrew letter reminds us of the importance of worshipping together in (Hebrews 10:23-25).
I want to encourage all Christians to study and apply God’s Word in their daily lives (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV). Our proper response to God’s Word is the only way that we can “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). It is the only way we can grow properly as a Christian (1 Peter 2:1-2). There Peter said, “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”
May God bless you in your Christian living. If you are not a Child of God you can become one by hearing God’s Word, believing that Jesus is the Son of God, repenting of your sins, confessing that Jesus is the Son of God and being buried with Jesus in Baptism.
(Questions and Answers is provided by Tony Hoss, Minister at Elizabethton Church of Christ.)