Bigger and Better Things

In the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics Michael Phelps (Olympic Swimmer) won six gold medals and two bronze medals in Olympic swimming. In 2008 Michael Phelps returned to Olympic competition and received an additional eight Olympic Gold medals and shattered a few world records along the way. In the years of 1991, 1992, and 1993 professional basketball player Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to three NBA championship trophies. In 1996, 1997, and 1998 Michael Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to an additional three more championship trophies. The inspiration behind these athletes conquest is that they are always looking to conquer what is next and they refuse to live off the glory of the past and every Christian should have the same attitude.
What does a fulfilled and satisfied Christian life look like? Jesus Christ said that a satisfied Christian life is a life that is producing fruit (John 15). Jesus Christ describes himself as the root of a tree and his disciples are the branches. God the Father is the gardener who keeps watch over the branches and the branches are to produce fruit in order to be useful. Imagine an orange grove and in the midst of the grove is a tree that hasn’t grown fruit in years is that tree profitable? What if that tree had been a prize winning tree over seven years ago does that still make the tree profitable? The answer to both questions is no because that tree isn’t serving its purpose in the orange grove. Christians are called to serve the purpose of producing fruit for Jesus Christ which simply means daily they should be serving God. It is a sad day when all a believer has to talk about is the good old days in Christ when they worked hard and prayed hard. The word of God says that branch shall be cut down and cast into the fire because it serves no purpose.
If you are a Christian I encourage you to stay fresh and the best way to stay fresh is to continue working. It is the duty of the Christian to live a life that Jesus Christ could write about book about and how that life glorified him. If you are living off the glory days it is time to turn the page and do something new. Forget about all the past victories and begin going after new victories. In fact the Bible calls us to go after new victories much like athletes go after a prize. Athletes train hard, they agonize they push until it hurts, and eventually they obtain the prize they were searching for. The key to it all is as long as the athlete can still compete and is able to go after the prize they will. In the Christian life this is called pruning (John 15). Jesus says to all the branches that produce fruit he will purge so that they can continue to produce fruit. To put it simply keep on running for Jesus until your number is called and you go on to glory.-Amen
Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.-Philippians 3:13-14

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