You will notice that weightlifters and sportspersons generally spend an enormous amount of time building up. They exert a lot of pressure and discipline on themselves for professional results. There is hardly anything of value in life that can be achieved without effort. This is no less true on the spiritual plane. The salvation of our soul and an intimate walk with God will not come at convenience. A dictionary defines the word convenience as that which is close by or does not require much effort. Those who usually wait for convenient seasons hardly do much for God or themselves. Felix in Acts of the Apostles did not realize this fact, so he failed to seize the moment. Listening to Paul brought him under conviction, but he wanted a more convenient time to decide for Christ. It is doubtful if that time did come.

In recent times, our meditations have been on the need to build up ourselves spiritually. Doing this will give us immunity against the devil and prepare us for God’s predestined heights for our lives. What we need to stress at this point is that growing up spiritually will not come cheap. Growth comes from strenuous efforts that we apply to relevant activities. Two things are important here: attention to prayer and the word of God. All who boast of any meaningful spiritual progress followed this route. We are not any stronger than our level of devotion to prayer and the word.