… ¹¹ not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹² rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, ¹³ contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

Christian living on spiritual steroids is the only way to follow Jesus Christ. The justified individual (every Christian) should be fully committed to Christ, developing character as the foremost task. The ESV renders verse 11 “Do not be slothful in zeal.” Imagine a long distance runner rounding the last lap on the track, putting every ounce of energy into finishing well. There is no slacking, looking around and enjoying the scenery when running a race to win. We are not to be “lagging behind.”

This does not mean, of course, that the Christian should go non-stop without any sleep or times of rest and recuperation. Remember, even Jesus told His disciples, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). As one author said, we must take time to stop and sharpen the saw or our work of cutting down trees will begin to suffer. So Christians need to strategically take time away from the fast pace of the race. But understand this well: the point of time away is to rejuvenate and ready a person to get back in the race. Race cars and their drivers need pit stops so they can refuel, change tires, take a break—so they can continue on for many, many more laps.

However, in all this, we are motivated to not be “lagging behind in diligence” but to be fervent or zealous in our serving the Lord. We are not to be pew-sitters, casually going through life and occasionally touching base with God. This is a lifestyle commitment. Notice how this zeal is played out in the list that follows:

1) Rejoicing in hope, which means we are excited about what lies ahead, because we know God is in control no matter what happens. Hope is not wishful thinking, but a desired expectancy of what He is going to do.

2) Persevering in tribulation. We can do this because we have hope. Job, as our example, while complaining bitterly about his circumstances, in the midst of it all, said, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him …” (Job 13:15).

3) Devoted to prayer. This is a great area of defeat for many Christians, but it is vital that we apply ourselves and work at developing our prayer life.

4) Practical expressions of our love to “saints” (yes, we believers are all “saints”) where there are needs, and also to “strangers” (the Greek word for hospitality is “philoxenos,” which literally means “brotherly love for strangers”), that is, those not in our immediate social circles.

Lord, help me to live my Christian life diligently and fervently.