Do you want the truth? Can you handle the truth? Diets don’t work! You have to work at a diet! Exercise doesn’t work; you have to work at exercise. Being a Christian doesn’t work; you have to work at being a Christian! We have become a people at ease, we want something done for us. Give us a pill, handle my child, take care of all my problems. Don’t pick up the hoe, you might have to work in the garden.

Christianity is a way of living. It is a method of having and dealing with everything that life may bring. It isn’t putting our life in neutral and hoping it all works out for the good. The key is working! Jesus gave us a clue in this statement, “Do unto others” (Luke 6:31). Paul gave another, “work out your own salvation” (Phil. 2:12b).

What did Jesus mean when He said, “take up your cross and follow me” (Mt. 16:24)? Paul said, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize…”(Phil. 3:14). We have become a nation of quitters. If it isn’t easy, I don’t want to do it. Family life hard? Just quit! Marriage getting rough? Just quit! People not treating you right in church? Just quit! Folks, the crown comes at the end of the race, and not when you quit (Jms. 1:12b)! Floyd C. Johnson, Huntington Park church of Christ, Shreveport, LA