Motivated

by Bud Lambert

One day out in the middle of a cow pasture that we had turned into a makeshift baseball diamond, and for some reason I have yet to figure out, my brother, Carter, told me he was going to hit me with a baseball bat. I didn't believe him. So in front of all our friends, I stood there and dared him to do it. What happened next? You guessed it! The next thing I knew I was on the ground-my legs had been knocked out from under me by a baseball bat. Dad disciplined him, but I guarantee you, the next time Carter said he was going to hit me with a baseball bat, I believed him and got out of his way. Human motivation originates in faith. We do what we believe to be true.
People who have a saving faith in God will be motivated to please him. "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him" ( Hebrews 11 :7). In Hebrews chapter eleven the writer explains that Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, all pleased God, because of their faith. They were motivated to obey him no matter what the cost. The apostle Paul, one of the most motivated Christians of the First Century, explains that his life was so motivated, not because of his faith in himself (self-motivated), but because of his faith in Jesus Christ (Christ-motivated) ( Galatians 2:20). The Philippian Christians were motivated to obey God, not because they believed in Paul, but because God
motivated them - they believed in God ( Philippians 2:12- 13).
A faith that doesn't motivate is a dead faith ( James 2: 17). A church that isn't motivated or isn't actively doing the Lord's will is a dead church with a dead faith. So let's be active; let's be alive; let's be motivated -- let's continue growing in faith! "So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of
God" ( Romans 10: 17).