Pressing toward the goal involves being an active member of the Lord’s church.  I have often pointed out that Christianity is not for lazy people.  It involves a lifetime of activity.  It involves working, participating, and volunteering, especially in the local church.  Make no mistake about it, if you are not working for the Lord; if you are not putting your hands to the plow and going about the Father’s business, you really cannot say that you are pressing on toward the goal.

We must all be active Christians.  The word active is defined as follows: “Characterized by action rather than by contemplation.”  There is a time to contemplate.  We should always think before we act.  Many people get themselves into trouble by acting without thinking.  But there comes a time when we must stop thinking about doing something and get down to the business of doing it.

There will be many people who spend eternity in a devil’s hell who had good intentions here on earth.  Good intentions alone will not save us.  They will not keep us in a right relationship with God if they are not followed by actually doing what we intend to do.  Sooner or later, we have to get down to the business of doing.

James 1:22, 25 (ESV)
²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves…²⁵ But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. 

Let me give you a few synonyms for the word active: alive, functioning, operative, energetic, working.  Now notice a few antonyms for the word active: dead, dormant, idle, dull, passive.  Which list of words describes your life in Christ?  How you answer will tell you whether you are pressing on toward the goal or not.   Are you alive and active in the Lord’s work, or are you dull and passive?  Are you energetic or dormant?

We all need to be as active as we can in the kingdom of God.  Our activity is primarily played out in the local church.  Local churches are made up of Christians who agree to work together in a specific geographical area.  The local church is our Lord’s divine institution set up to do His work.  In the New Testament, we find that once a person obeyed the gospel and was added to the church (Acts 2:47), he would then join himself to a local group of Christians (Acts 9:26).

We all need to do our part in the local church.  If a local church is to reach its potential, it needs the majority of its members to cooperate in carrying out the work of the Lord.

Ephesians 4:16 (KJV)
¹⁶ From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

We are all members of the body.  For the body to be healthy, every joint must be supplying what the body needs and every part must be working. This is true regarding the local church as well.  How active are you in your local church?  Some members can do more than others but every member can be doing something.   What are you doing?

Are you pressing toward the goal?  Are you running the race, growing in the Word and in faith with a fortified mind?  We all get weary sometimes but we must keep on pressing, knowing that if we finish the course, there is a great reward that awaits us.  No matter what life throws at us, let us all keep pressing on toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).  That prize is heaven, and it is ours as long as we keep pressing on.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.