Decay is a terrible thing, and it is all around us. We live in a world that is getting worse every day through the effects of sin. “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22). In a sin-deteriorating world nothing gets better on its own!

If we are not careful the decay around us can become an excuse for why we are not bearing fruit. These are days of low expectations among believers and that is a very dangerous thing. The bar for Christians and churches keeps getting lower and lower. We seem to be believing God for less and less. Our culture has become too big and our God has become too small. 

Why should we expect so little from our great God? His expectation for us has not changed! Christ left His church here for a purpose and we should want nothing less than to fulfill His will…

• We are not here to exist – we are here to evangelize.
• We are not here to live in ease – we are here to edify.
• We are not here to endure life – we are here to enjoy His presence.

Away with low expectations! The church of Jesus Christ is not supposed to hold the fort – it is to charge the gates of hell (Matthew 16:18). Christians are not supposed to coast to Heaven – they are to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18). Our expectations must be rooted in faith, not in how we feel, what we see, or what others say.

Don’t die before you die. Refuse to quit before God is through! If you are breathing and Christ has not yet returned then there must be more that God has for you. The psalmist said, “mine expectation is from him.” Our expectations should not be dictated by the climate of the day or determined by what we think can easily be accomplished. The believer’s expectation must be centered fully on the greatness of God: what He can do and what He deserves.

My prayer for you today is the prayer of God’s servant for Christians facing their own culture war in the first century, “…that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Colossians 3:18). All the will of God. Dear Lord, raise our expectations!

(Read more about “Great Expectations” here.)