Sometimes we feel the need to be crippled, inside. We like to be cared for, and cared about, not venturing beyond what can be gained for ourselves in our daily walk. Our attention focuses on small rewards and away from inner growth and outward responsibility. When the gains from remaining crippled seem great we don’t consider the greater reward found by striving for excellence. Yet those who strive will eventually benefit their fellow man, while those who remain crippled inside will need to be cared for.
Who will reach for the high calling of his destiny? These matters are settled in the hearts of men. If a man will struggle against his own selfishness and overcome, he will care about others and plot the course of his life accordingly. His life will glorify God because he will become godly.
We find that godliness is the sixth virtue in 2 Peter 1:5-7. It comes after faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, and perseverance. Without it we will fail to progress to brotherly kindness, and love. But if we press on, we will keep our faith active, productive, and effective. Peter points out that we become near-sighted when we stop in our growth of faith, forgetful of Christ’s great forgiveness of our sins. How could a man forget something so valuable, except that the small rewards of this life and its small fleshly gains become more valuable to us. Truly Christ is our gain, and our high calling is our prize of greatest worth (Eph 3:7,14). Let us lift our eyes upward to Him today. Amen.
