Scripture:
Philippians 2:12-13
So
then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only,
but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and
trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to
work for His good pleasure.
Insights: Yesterday we looked at what salvation
involves. Today, we are going to explain
what Paul is actually talking about when he wrote, “work out your salvation
with fear and trembling.” The next part
of that sentence is the key, “for it is God who is at work IN you.” This working out of one’s salvation deals
with the sanctification process God works IN us to bring about life change and
spiritual maturity. These disciplines we
“work out” in our lives are: reading the Bible every day, praying and fasting,
witnessing, tithing, serving and sacrificing, attending church services. There are other spiritual disciplines, but if
we will participate in this list to start, then we will experience spiritual
growth. In this growth we will then know
God’s good pleasure for which He is working IN us to do. Let me close today writing about the “fear
and trembling” part of the verse. F.B.
Meyer gives a great illustration regarding this concept. He said to image you were an artist and you got
to spend the day with the person in history you considered to be the greatest
artist of all times. Knowing you were
going to be given this opportunity would create in you a great deal of
excitement and that excitement would be almost uncontainable. You might actually have moments in which you
physically shutter just thinking about spending time with this great
artist. As incredibly cool as that would
be to spend the day with your hero, the reality is we get to spend every day
with Jesus. We have every opportunity to
ask Him how He would handle the situations of our day. We can observe His activity as He draws
people to Himself. We get to worship Him
because He blows us away with His amazing grace. We get to experience His restoration of our lives
when we sin. This listing of the daily
joys we get to experience in Jesus is only a sampling of all the riches we get
to encounter. These moments ought to
fill us with such awe that we are walking around in “fear and trembling.” To God be the glory!
Questions:
- Do you awaken each morning with the excitement of
getting to spend the day with Jesus?
- Are you steadfast in pursuing the spiritual disciplines
the Lord uses to purge us of our old self?
Prayer: Father, do not
let me take for granted the joy of knowing I am in a relationship with You that
changes every aspect of my life. Do
whatever is necessary as You work IN me to become the child of God You desire
me to be. Amen.
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