Focus: Our Spiritual Praxis

Text: Mt.19:20

"The YOUNG man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my YOUTH UP: what lack I yet?"

No one becomes a spiritual giant overnight. In no field of endeavor is success actualized accidentally. Consistency in anything we do is of utmost importance. It is by discipline and diligence that one experiences spiritual ascendancy.

The rich young ruler comes to Christ, inquiring of what he might do to inherit eternal life. The Lord Jesus responds by asking him what his commitment level with the law is. He then says, "I have been keeping these laws from my youth till now." Matthew calls him a young man, and the young man himself says he's been keeping the laws of God from his youth. The word for 'young' is 'neaniskos' in the Greek. It means a man not over forty years of age. The word 'youth' is 'neotes,' and it refers to a newly born, an infant or a little boy. The young man is simply saying, 'From my infancy to my adulthood I have constantly, continuously, and consistently been a doer of the law.' He has a long history of obedience to the law of God. He is now a man of great experience. He has come a long way in his religious practice and moral devotion to Judaism.

God is not looking for fair weather Christians. God is opposed to spiritual fluctuations in our walk with Him. Peter tells the Lord Jesus, "Tell me to come." And the Lord says to him, "Come." Peter, by an act of faith, steps out of the ship and walks on the water. No mere mortal has ever walked on the water apart from Peter and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. But as soon as he sees the raging storm, fear grips him and he begins to sink. The Lord Jesus saves him, and then asks him, "O thou of LITTLE faith, wherefore didst thou doubt" (Mt.14:31). The word 'little' has nothing to do with size, but with sort. Peter's faith was not durable. His faith was very brief. He doubted as soon as he believed. His faith didn't last. His faith fizzled out in the face of the boisterous wind. His faith could not stand the storm. He let his doubt to drown his faith in just a moment. Under pressure his faith flopped.

The rich young ruler keeps doing the law even in the face of challenges. In season and out of season he is unrelenting. When it is convenient or inconvenient he is practicing his religious faith and fulfilling his moral obligations. The psalmist says, "Thou art my trust from my youth" (Ps.71:5). Child psychology teaches us that it is during the formative years of infancy and early adolescence that a child is better molded into whatever he should be. Solomon says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Prov.22:6). It takes time to form a habit and longer time to break it. It is said that practice makes perfect. Paul says of Timothy, "And that from a CHILD thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2Tim.3:15).

Let us give ourselves to practicing our faith at all times. Our faith is not a seasonal thing. Doctrine and duty, principle and praxis, belief and behavior - they belong together. John 3:16 says in effect, "Whoever believes and keeps on believing should not perish, but has everlasting life." Let's keep believing, obeying and doing. Let's keep applying our faith and putting it to work. Whether in fair or foul weather, let's do the word. Nothing is as important as practicing our faith and exercising our spirituality.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter