By Thomas Yukich
Nothing worth having comes easy. The things in life that are really worthwhile usually require great effort—education, a career, your marriage, rearing children, and so forth. If these things were easy, everyone would be highly educated and have a successful career, a healthy marriage and wonderful children. But these things do not come easily, and neither does a lifetime of faithful Christian living. If we are faithful to the Lord until our very last breath, it will never be by accident. Just like other things worth pursuing, faithfulness does not happen by accident and does not come easily. Let’s take a look at the way Barnabas encouraged some early Christians to remain faithful.
The Christian community in Antioch sprang up when disciples from Jerusalem fled persecution in their city and relocated to Antioch where they began a thriving church. Word got back to the leaders of the church in Jerusalem that a great number in Antioch had turned to the Lord. So the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas (also known as the son of encouragement) to go and further strengthen the disciples in Antioch (Acts 11:19-22). When Barnabas arrived in Antioch, he saw the grace of God at work in the hearts of the men and women who were turning their lives to God. Barnabas was glad when he saw the Christian transformation happening in the lives of these new disciples, “and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose” (Acts 11:23).
Remaining faithful to the Lord requires just that—a steadfast purpose. Of course, our steadfast purpose is not the basis for God’s acceptance of us. No matter how hard we try, we could never be ‘good enough’. But steadfast purpose is the correct response to God’s grace in our lives. Now that you are a Christian, Satan wants to deceive you into thinking that you’re all good and that there is no more work for you to do. He wants you to put in minimal effort. He wants you to kick back and relax. He wants you to assume that you are on auto-pilot for heaven. But that’s just not true! It takes effort and focus to remain faithful to the Lord. We cannot accidentally become faithful disciples who glorify God. So this year, in 2025, I challenge you to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose. Tell someone what your spiritual goals are for the year. Pray about how you want to grow in your discipleship. Make a spiritual growth plan and list the things you will do to grow in your relationship with God. Do whatever it takes to plan for spiritual growth and for a lifetime of faithfulness, because it will not happen by accident. 2025 can be a year of growth for us as individuals and as a church if we each respond to his grace and resolve to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.