THE NEED FOR PRACTICE

When I was in college, I vividly remember a speech class where I had to make a presentation in front of the class. I was nervous, to say the least, so in my preparation I spent a lot of time practicing what I was going to say, using notecards as prompts to help me along. I studied those cards regularly until I felt comfortable with what I wanted to say. On the day of
my presentation, I began, notecards in hand, to recite what I had studied and written. Before I had gotten too far along, I stopped, told myself (and the class) I didn’t need to rely on my cards, gave them a toss, and just began talking to the class about my topic. My practice had given me the confidence to present my speech more naturally.

Why do I bring up this personal story? As Christians, practicing or daily doing what the Bible teaches shows we are striving to faithfully serve the Lord, as well as it naturally becoming a part of our lives Take note of what the apostle John says in 1 John 3:7 – “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.”
And as we consider the word “practices” in this verse, we learn from Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon that it means “a continuous, habitual, and intentional action, not a one-time event.”

The practice I put into my speech, though done over a course of days, was finished when I made my presentation. The practice that a Christian puts forth is done on a regular basis throughout one’s lifetime, with the ultimate goal being a home in heaven above. Remember, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).