When one is baptized into Christ and becomes a Christian, he begins a new life (Rom. 6:4), in which he is to set aside those things of his old way of life (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:22) and excitedly pursue his new life in Christ and his new relationship with his Savior and Lord. Jesus summarized His expectations and made this promise, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). What is involved in being faithful? Consider these ten things.
Grow. The Lord wants us to increase our knowledge, our faith and our trust in Him (2 Pet. 1:5-11; 3:18), which we are able to do by regularly studying His Word (2 Tim. 2:15) and praying (Col. 4:2).
Worship. The Lord wants us to long to worship Him (John 4:24; Matt. 4:10) and praise Him from our hearts (Heb. 13:15; Eph. 5:19), especially on the first day of each week (Acts 20:7; Heb. 10:25).
Serve. The Lord wants us to look beyond ourselves (Phil. 2:3-4) and to find opportunities to loving serve others (Gal. 5:13) and do good to them (Gal. 6:10), knowing that such is also serving the Lord Himself (Col. 3:24; Rom. 12:10-11).
Teach. The Lord wants us to show others the way to heaven by teaching the gospel (Mark 16:15), living a Christian life (Matt. 5:16) and answering their questions (1 Pet. 3:15).
Obey. The Lord wants us to conform our lives to His will by submitting to Him (Jas. 4:7), walking by His side (1 John 1:7) and obeying His commands (Heb. 5:9; Matt. 7:21).
Prioritize. The Lord wants us to put Christ (Col. 1:18) and His church (Matt. 6:33) first in our lives, which will be evident in how we spend our time (Eph. 5:16).
Work. The Lord wants us to be busy in His kingdom (1 Cor. 3:9), remaining “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).
Separate. The Lord wants us to set ourselves apart from the ways of the world (Rom. 12:2; 1 Pet. 2:11), to keep ourselves pure (1 Pet. 1:15-16; 1 John 2:15-17) and to live godly lives (Tit. 2:11-12).
Endure. The Lord wants us to persevere through difficult times as a Christian (2 Tim. 2:3), looking to Jesus as our example for strength (Heb. 12:1-3) and ever pressing on to the eternal goal of heaven (Phil. 3:14).
Aim. The Lord wants us to set our sights on the glorious reward of heaven (Matt. 6:20; Col. 3:1-4) and live every day in eager anticipation of the return of Jesus to take the children of God home with Him (Phil. 3:20- 21; Tit. 2:13).
-David Sproule
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