Training Days

“Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

1 Timothy 4:8 (NLT)

In our last devo, we studied that we must allow God to train us in one thing at a time as He develops the greatness He has implanted inside each one of us. It takes time to learn complex things like a language. So, when God tells us to hold at a particular step in our spiritual growth, it’s because He wants us to learn the lesson well before we move on to the next step.

Now, here’s the issue: We don’t like to stay on a step for very long. It gets boring after awhile when all you do it repeat the same things over and over. So, most people give up and shoot for being mediocre (not that good) rather than working hard to master the skill in preparation for the next step. As a result, they never get moved to the next step in the journey.

Elite athletes, those who are the top of their games, don’t just wake up one day and say “I’m gonna get a gold medal in the Olympics.” No, they train for hours every single day, for decades. And they repeat the same exercises over and over and over again. Want to be a sprinter? You will run the 100-meter race dozens of times each day, in addition to hitting the weight room, watching film of your technique, and making slight adjustments to your form. They are constantly working to improve. It takes a lot of effort and discipline.

It must be the same with our faith. To move on to the next step in God’s plan, you must train hard on your current step. God’s got you on the Scripture step? Dig in to the Bible. Pick a book and start reading. Get into the details of the Scripture. Ask your friends to join you (training buddies help keep you on track). Ask your pastor for resources on digging deeper into the Bible. Spend quality time in study each day. Don’t skip a training session. Stay dedicated. As the Apostle Paul put it, “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

It’s only through repeated training that you will be ready when God give you your next step, and He alone gets to determine when His athlete, His disciple, is ready to move on to the next level of training. He is your coach. He will help unlock the greatness that is within you, but you must trust His training methods and keep working at them each and every day.