Increasing Intensity

One of the greatest difficulties the average person encounters is how to continue on a journey that they begin. Starting is usually the easy part, but, alas, not many people have been disposed to continue with things in the long-haul.

This is why new year’s resolutions are a big deal. The next resolution would typically testify that a person was unable to stay long enough with the previous one, and so, for most people, the new year resolution is some sort of renewal service where they announce to themselves and perhaps others, “Alright, I want to give this another try.”

This experience is not lost in spiritual things. I daresay that for most people, there is a greater temptation to be inconsistent in habits or disciplines that should eventually cause them to thrive spiritually.

A natural culprit of course would be the old serpent, Satan, who will orchestrate everything possible to distract the Christian just enough for them to lose steam and forgo spiritual habits.

And while, the enemy works round the clock, concocting distractions that would steal the attention of the undiscerning, it is not fair to pin him as the cause.

Whether abruptly ending a 30-day bible plan only three days after beginning or praying only once a week after planning to spend a few minutes daily in prayers, there are several reasons people give for not being able to build enduring spiritual habits.

Sometimes it’s busyness or some seasonal challenges, other times, it might be laziness or some feeling of boredom, and at other times, people have reported a decrease in passion and all-around interest.

Notwithstanding the reasons, inconsistency in spiritual things is annihilated by one single disposition: increasing intensity.

This is a testimony told by the flames of a raging forest fire that burns through the leaves and stems of plants. This fire already became great by engulfing several trees in its path, and as it increases in intensity, it desires to burn more, and so it does. But as it burns more trees, it grows even more, and continues to burn, to the point that this fire can never be put out, unless there is nothing to burn.

The reason most spiritual habits and dispositions die is that people are content with maintaining the status-quo. They are alright with the current intensities and are hoping to keep those for a while.

But the people who continued with Christ had an overarching cry: “More!”

For these people, the intensity of fire that burned in their spirits today could not satisfy them tomorrow – it had to increase.

Paul, in His letter to the Philippian church, informed them that the one disposition of His heart was to leave the past in the past, and press on, for more of Christ.

For this very accomplished spiritual man, it was crucial for him not to have a better yesterday in His walk with Christ. So, every day, he woke up with a desire to know Christ more, to pray more, to fast more, to Love more, to be more intentional with His time, etc.

Show me a woman who will not allow her best days to be in the past and I show you a woman that will never stop.

Everyone who lost steam at some point stopped increasing. The person who keeps climbing would be less likely to fall than the man who stops climbing and desires to remain suspended at a current state.

The members of the cloud of witnesses understood this. Many of them kept going by setting their eyes to an eternal goal. For Abraham and several others, it was a promise of a city, one not made with human hands, that spurred them to navigate continually in tents. They looked on more fervently and took briskier steps, believing that with each passing day, they were closer to their destination than when they first began.

No wonder many of them were recognized as faith examples for the generation of believers to come.

Interestingly, Jesus Christ himself bore witness to this same truth, as He had lived in ever-increasing zeal and passion for God.

The scriptures testified that as a child, He grew in wisdom and stature, and had great favor with God and men that once upon a time, he preferred to remain in the temple to discuss with doctors of the law, then travel home with his parents. When quizzed about it, He replied that He had to be about His father’s business.

One would expect this to have been the peak of His expression of His passion for the house of God. But this passion intensified so much that several years after He had begun His earthly ministry, Christ declared that the zeal of His Father’s house had eaten Him up.

At this point, He was not only willing to spend time in the temple discussing with doctors of the law, but he was also willing to bring correction to people who had erred from the Father’s ways.

One beauty of this truth, for the believer, is that there is no end to its experience.

For one, the scripture describes the path of the righteous as a shining light that shines in ever increasing intensity. This entails that by design, God’s children are designed to keep going up!

The other more salient reason is that our eventual destination is Jesus Christ himself, and since Christ shines with the greatest intensity, we would always have a need to increase.

Even the most dominant sprint athletes train with increasing intensity to get quicker within the physical limits imposed by the body. The Christian, however, is unconstrained in his journey because Christ is limitless!

And so, as we daily desire to become like Him in increasing measure, our lives will be characterized by unbroken layers of growth and unprecedented fellowship.