There are two very important principles contained in the above passage. These two principles must be kept in balance in the victorious Christian life. If one or the other is violated the believer will not attain the best God has for him or her.

The first principle is that of initiative, we might say. Initiative has to do with taking a step toward God. "I will give you every place where you set your foot." We gain our inheritance by taking steps toward God.

You have to start walking. I would not be in the ministry today if I had settled into my work in public school teaching and administration. It was because I kept on pressing toward the Lord that I was directed to come out of the state retirement system (losing many thousands of dollars in the process) and take the pastorate of a church that had just been closed because of lack of members.

I had been working as an elementary-school principal and teaching an adult class in the church we attended. Although the class commenced at 9:45 I would come to the church at sunrise and pray for at least two hours before the students arrived.

It was on one of those mornings that the Lord showed me the meaning of the second chapter of Second Thessalonians, that the removal of the barrier that prevents the appearing of Antichrist will be the falling away, mentioned a few verses previously.

Also, the meaning of the eleventh chapter of the Book of Revelation, that the killing of the two witnesses and then the refusal to permit burial of their bodies signifies that the Christian churches will lose the Spirit of God but will continue operating, was made plain to me. It will be something like Samson making sport for the Philistines.

But Samson's hair grew back!

When the Lord impressed my wife and me that it was time to go full time in the ministry we could hear His voice and we were prayed up and ready to go. I believe I would not be serving as a pastor today had it not been for numerous small steps toward God taken while in secular employment.

From what I have seen through the years, most Christians are not taking the initiative. They are waiting for God to come down and tell them what to do. Although the Bible commands them to do so they are not taking up their cross and following Jesus; they are not presenting their body a living sacrifice; they are not coveting earnestly the gifts and ministries of the Spirit; they are not asking, seeking, or knocking.

They are waiting for God to wrench their social, economic, and vocational environment and compel them to serve the Lord. They are expecting an experience like Saul of Tarsus. But sovereign interventions of that sort are few and far between.

Most of us have to step toward God each day. After many years the Lord may or may not use us in some visible, dramatic way. Nevertheless we keep on putting God first day after day, hour after hour.

To be continued.