Train yourself to be godly

Train yourself to be godly. 1 Timothy 4:7

This past weekend the Chicago Marathon was run. It didn't go so well. The temperature soared into the high 80's which is very abnormal for the beginning of October in Chicago. More than 40 people were taken to the hospital and even one person died. However, it was determined that the death was unrelated to the heat.

The people who participated in this marathon likely trained for months. I doubt there was a single person that woke up and said, I want to run a marathon today. Nobody is just going to go out and run 26 miles without training beforehand.

I believe that training is doing what we can do today to the maximum best of our ability. We do this with the intention of doing tomorrow what we are unable to do today.

When I think of training for godliness, I think of Moses. Moses did not become the leader of God's people overnight. There was 80 years of training that went into it. He spent 40 years living as a part of Pharaoh's household. I am sure the lessons he learned during this time equipped him for the task that God would give him. But there was another 40 years where he lived in Midian as a shepherd. Both of these experiences helped him gained insight for the calling that the Lord would soon give him. Unlike anyone else, he had a foot in the house of royalty and the house of peasantry. It give him a unique perspective to be able to do what no one else could have done.

The same is true for us. We are continually in training the tasks the Lord will give to us. We may not know what those task are right now. But as we remain faithful and seek to grow in godliness, God will put his calling on our heart.

I once encouraged someone to follow the example of the Apostle Paul. Their response was that they were no Apostle Paul. My response to them, was that the Apostle Paul was no Apostle Paul at one point in time as well. It was through godly training and discipline that he became the missionary he did.

I think that many people miss the fact that Paul did not immediately go out on his missionary journeys after being called by Jesus. There was a time of training that he went through. This time of training was not days, but years. Paul writes about this in Galatians 3:15-18

God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter . . .

So there were three years of preparation that went into making Paul the man of God that he would become.

We give Jesus our whole heart today, but as we keep doing so, we will find that we have more heart to give. I pray that I am more godly tomorrow than I am today, and that I am more godly today than I was yesterday.

Our training regimen is the spiritual disciplines. God's Word, prayer, worship, service, fasting, and giving are examples of these disciplines. We do today what we are able to do to the the best of our ability with the Spirit's help. As we grow we will do tomorrow more than we ever thought possible as we serve a God who is able to do immeasurably more.