Practicing Verses Perfecting

 In John 3:21, Jesus said that those who practice truth come to the Light so that their deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. I am glad Jesus said hose who practice the truth and not those who perfectly live the truth. I could never measure up to perfection. 

I just walked off the football practice field for spring football. For weeks we have been practicing our plays, working on details of route running, catching, throwing, and playing defense. It is somewhat monotonous. Doing the same drills. Running the same plays over and over again. We practice to get better. We may never perfect the game of football, but we can improve a little day after day. 

The same should be said for our Christian walk and living out the principles of the Bible. None of us is perfect. We fail repeatedly. Therefore, we keep practicing. We keep praying, studying, and applying truth to our hearts. We keep working those truths into our daily lives. We may not be perfecting living truth, but we keep practicing to improve. 

There are a few things that I think can help us improve a little more. We need a place, a designated spot where we will seek God. A designated place where we will meet with God in the pages of our Bible and where we will commune with Him through prayer. I am honestly shocked how few people set aside any time on a daily basis to meet with God. Brenda and I do it first thing in the morning. We both have our morning routines. She sits in a recliner in our bedroom to seek God, and I do the same in my chair in the living room. Days started with God seem to go better. Jesus kept the habit of finding a solitary place to prayerfully seek the Father. [Mark 1:35] Should we not do the same?

Another practice should be to gather with others to worship. I realize many people gather with others for worship services. That does not mean that they worship themselves. They may sit in a seat, sing the songs, even crack open a Bible, but never worship one single moment. Worship is putting all the focus on God, engaging the heart as well as the mind, and responding to what He reveals. Worship is not a spectator religion. It is a participatory event. Those who practice engaging in the different expressions of worship will be the ones who get the most out of it. Worship was never meant to be entertainment. It was meant to be an intentional act of the mind, will, and emotions. People shouted in worship in the Psalms, clapped their hands, lifted their arms, bowed, wept, and followed hard after God. These practices help improve the daily performance of living out truth. 

I do not always get it right trying to live for God. I fail more than I want to. I sin still. I can be lulled into  lethargy and amply disarmed with apathy with the best of them. I must keep practicing the truth. I know I must press on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. I have much more practicing to do. I am in the pursuit of Jesus who alone is perfect. Hopefully all of us will practice becoming more like Him.