Keep The Change

Julie Cosgrove

Take today’s next step: Try something new – take the 35 Day Challenge

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

Do you like change? Not many people really do. Change brings on a cluster of butterflies dancing in the stomach or a taut rubber band of tension in the neck. It quickens our breath and makes our minds swirl with “what if’s?”

Change can be exciting. Do you recall your first day of high school? Or college? The day of your wedding, or when you discovered you were pregnant? Do you remember the day your child left home? What about the day you retired?

There are other times when life changes in a blink of an eye, and perhaps not for the better. We get a pink slip. We get the call at two in the morning that every parent dreads. The weather warning horn blares minutes before our neighborhood is destroyed. The tests reveal cancer. Our husband’s attorney serves the papers.

There's a Time for You To Be Inflexible and Unmoving!

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;). 
-- Hebrews 10:23

Maybe you've been muttering to yourself, "Come on! I've waited and waited for my dream to come to pass. God hasn't done anything I thought He was going to do. I've seen others blessed; I've seen others healed; but I'm still sitting here with the same old unanswered prayers. I'm sick of it all! I'm not going to believe and wait any longer. Forget it - I'm letting it all go!" 

If this sounds like you, I want to encourage you to take a look at Hebrews 10:23. It says, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering...." 

We already looked at the words "hold fast" (see March 20) and "profession" (see May 7), but today I want to take you one step further and draw your attention to the word "waver" in this powerful verse of Scripture. The word "waver" is taken from the Greek aklines, which conveys the picture of something that does not bend or something that is fixed and unmoving and is therefore stable and enduring. 

Regaining Your Cutting Edge

Over the next several devotionals, I want to focus your attention on something that affects every Christian at one time or another:  Losing our spiritual edge.

God wants us to stay spiritually sharp.  Consider Ecclesiastes 10:10,

If the ax is dull, and one does not sharpen the edge, then he must use more strength; but wisdom brings success.

God is using this analogy to illustrate a very important truth:  If you lose your edge spiritually, you lose your effectiveness as well.

Maybe you feel that way today.  Though you are exerting strenuous effort, you are making little progress in your spiritual life.  God wants you to go forward.  He wants you to progress and not become stagnant in your spiritual life.