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Bible Gleanings, devotions

The Bitter Cup of Legalism | Bible Gleanings | November 1-2, 2025

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Coffee was once considered the devil’s drink of choice. Because coffee was popular among Muslims who drank it to stay awake during their evening worship services, Roman Catholic Church leaders during the 16th century claimed that it was a demonic concoction “of Islamic infidels.” That is, until Pope Clement VIII gave it a taste—and it didn’t take long for him to bless the bean. “This Satan’s drink is so delicious,” he remarked, “it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. We shall fool Satan by baptizing it.”1 And immediately, coffee conquered the continent and flowed all the way to the mugs we fill every morning.

Coffee-hating legalists nearly missed out on one of God’s greatest gifts to mankind, and legalism continues to rob believers of God’s gifts of joy, grace, peace, and Christian liberty. Legalism, if you didn’t know, is when we add man-made rules and religious traditions to God’s word, grading our holiness and that of others based on restrictions God never gave us in the Scripture. Legalism turns us into spiritual hall monitors who police piety based on personal preferences. And legalism rears its ugly head when we measure spirituality by clothing choices, denominational traditions, worship music styles, and strict abstinence from activities not explicitly prohibited in the Bible—things like watching secular movies, wearing blue jeans to church, or enjoying classic rock music. The Pharisees of Jesus’ time were steeped in legalism, demonstrated by their indignant insinuation that His disciples were heathen-like sinners because they didn’t ceremonially wash their hands before eating (Mark 7:1-5). 

The apostle Paul warned believers about the danger of legalism in Colossians 2:20-23,

“You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires” (NLT).

Simply put, legalism may appear holy, but it does not make you holy. It may keep your hands clean, but it cannot keep your heart pure.

However, the remedy for legalism is not swerving to the opposite extreme and indulging in unrestrained and careless conduct. The solution is also not more rules—the answer is more Jesus (Col. 2:6). And we must obey the Lord out of gratitude for His saving grace (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14-15; Titus 2:11-12), and carefully assess our obedience according to what God has clearly written in His word. Additionally, we ought to enjoy and embrace the good gifts of God’s creation without guilt, and exercise wisdom while doing so. Otherwise, we will dilute the sweet cup of God’s grace and drink the bitter cup of legalism.

  1. Rick Beyer, The Greatest Stories Never Told (New York: HarperCollins, 2003), 30.

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Idol Worship Stinks | Bible Gleanings | October 25-26, 2025

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The woman was “down in the dumps,” having entangled herself in a messy situation which prompted her to reassess her priorities. The Brinnon Fire Department in Washington State reported that a lady in her 40s requested emergency assistance, after falling headfirst into a vault toilet at a frequented hiking area. On the list of “worst things to happen to hikers,” this ranks as number two. How did she end up neck-deep?

She reportedly dropped her smartphone in the outhouse latrine and attempted to retrieve it—unsuccessfully. Initially, she tried fishing it out with her dog’s leash, and let’s just say her furry friend went home leashless that day. Next, she removed the seat and leaned into the abhorrent abyss to get closer—and that’s when it happened. The entire latrine collapsed inward, causing her to plunge into the filth below, where she dialed 9-1-1 from her soiled cellphone. All of this for a $200 smartphone. 

The lengths we will go for what we love and the things we are willing to do for what we value are truly astonishing. And many times, the price we pay in doing so is not worth the gain. But this is precisely what we do when worshiping gods that are not God. We often invest precious time, money, and energy into idols we believe will make us happier and more fulfilled—although they leave us down in the dumps. As the psalmist counseled, “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply” (Psalm 16:4a).

Idol-worship always costs more than it pays, and the false gods of possessions, protection, power, pleasure, prestige, and position always take more than they give. As Jonah cautioned, “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love” (Jonah 2:8). You can’t get from gods what you can only get from God. So, why give to gods and get nothing when you can give to God and get everything He promises?

Nevertheless, emulating Josiah of old (2 Chron. 34:33) and demolishing our idols is challenging because, as John Calvin once stated, our hearts are “factories of idols,” equipped with a golden-calf assembly line, eager to fashion a god from anything and everything. Paul likewise stated in Romans that we are prone to worship and serve “the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25). This is why we are exhorted, “Flee from idolatry” (1 Cor. 10:14, KJV), and admonished, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). Therefore, we must continually “turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them” (Acts 14:15b).

Idols are all glitter and no gold—God is God and always good. Idol-worship stinks—worshiping God satisfies. As David declared: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Keep Ducking | Bible Gleanings | October 11-12, 2025

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I always duck my head when I put away the dishes. But not because my wife stealthily wields a frying pan, eager to cash in on some life insurance. No, I instinctively lower my head because of our poorly placed cabinet door—and my poor memory of its existence. It sits right above the dishwasher, and I have a bad habit of leaving it open while I put away plates, mugs, and cutlery. And having hit my head on it many times, I have learned to automatically duck—even while it is closed.

And the other day, the old adversary vanquished me again. Vibing to some good music with my headphones on, I forgot to duck, and a thud echoed across the kitchen. And a pulsing abrasion on my balding head served as a reminder that no matter how many times you’ve learned your lesson, old problems can still get you. Many dangers remain in place, waiting for you to forget they are there.

Paul the apostle understood this problem profoundly. After twenty-something years of continual Christian maturity, he admitted in Romans that he still “hit his head” from time to time:

“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate . . . For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing . . . So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand” (Rom. 7:15, 18-19, 21).

Struggling with the same old sins and suffering from setbacks is a part of every saint’s sanctification. Sin isn’t going away until we are away from our bodies and present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). Until then, we must remain diligently watchful and continue ducking our heads to avoid sin and the headaches it induces. The real danger is thinking there is no danger—that is precisely when sin inflicts another bruise on our heads. As Paul also said, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). 

And when sin hits us on the head due to our carelessness, the good news is that God will lift us up by His grace. The writer of Proverbs 24:16 promised, “For the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.” The psalmist likewise assured, “Though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand” (Psalm 37:24). Keep ducking your head, Christian. And when you forget to do so, remember that God raises the humble heads of those who have been wounded by their besetting sins.

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Know Your Enemy | Bible Gleanings | October 4-5, 2025

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Countless wars have been won following its principles, and countless more have been lost by ignoring them. Written over 2,400 years ago by a Chinese military strategist named Sun Tzu, The Art of War is essentially the Proverbs of conflict. Sun Tzu poured his greatest war wisdom into this treatise, and one of its most prominent principles is this: “Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain in every battle to be in peril.”

This proverbial proposition is particularly pertinent in our struggle against the devil. Satan succeeds in seducing us when his schemes remain a secret. But our chances of triumphing over the Tempter increase when we recognize his tools, tactics, and tricks. “Knowing is half the battle,” as G.I. Joe used to say, and we can only craft a battle plan against Satan once we understand his. And the Bible reveals Satan’s playbook in Luke 4:1-13, where he employed three strategies to tempt Christ in the wilderness: doubt, deception, and distortion.

The devil first enticed Jesus to turn stones into bread, not to relieve His hunger, but to doubt the provision of His Father (v. 3). Satan was essentially insinuating, “What kind of God would starve His only begotten Son? You better make bread because your ‘God’ isn’t providing for you this time.” And his wicked whispers reach our ears, too: “What kind of loving God would allow your prayers to go unanswered? What kind of Father allows His children to go without?”

The slithering serpent also tried to lure Christ into temptation through deception (vv. 5-7). The father of lies claimed that all sovereignty and dominion belonged to him, and he could, therefore, grant Jesus the greatest empires of the world. But the truth is that all power, authority, and glory are the Lord’s (Matt. 6:13b). Thus, Satan tells non-truths and half-truths but never the truth.

Lastly, the master of deceit used distortion to tempt the Lord Jesus (vv. 9-11). He twisted Psalm 91:11-12 to encourage Christ to leap from the temple roof to His death. The devil knows the Scripture and knows how to modify, misrepresent, and misuse it. He mixes lies with truth so that it is difficult to discern the difference. And this is not surprising since the first words uttered from his lying lips were, “Hath God said?” (Gen. 3:1a, KJV).

And for each of these strategies, there is one proven defense: the word of God. Christ resisted every temptation by declaring, “It is written” (v. 4, 8, 12), and we must wield the sword of the Spirit in Satan’s face. A dusty Bible on our shelves will not help us, but the word of God stored upon the shelves of our soul certainly will. To vanquish Satan, you must know your enemy and know your Bible.

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Waiting Without Withering | Bible Gleanings | September 27-28, 2025

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True love waits, but it might nearly kill you. In 2016, a man named Alexander Cirk determined to see his online girlfriend five-thousand miles away in China. He booked a flight and sent his sweetheart photos of his ticket and dreamed of embracing her. But when he arrived, he embraced no one—his darling was nowhere to be found. 

Assuming she was running late, Cirk waited for her in the airport. And he waited for ten days until, according to NBC News, “authorities reportedly took a frail-looking Cirk to a local hospital for treatment.” When his girlfriend was eventually tracked down, she thought he was joking about the trip! Two lessons arise from this: (1) be careful with online dating—you might end up in the hospital and in the hole, and (2) waiting is incredibly difficult. And the latter lesson is one that the Lord teaches us throughout His word.

We are commanded in Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” We must wait with patience—for answers to prayer (Ps. 40:1), for God’s guidance (Prov. 3:5-6), for deliverance from tribulations (Ps. 37:7), for the provision of our needs (Ps. 33:20), for justice to be done (Rom. 12:19), and for the fulfillment of His plan and promises (Ps. 138:8). And waiting is particularly challenging because we are conditioned against it. We can microwave our supper, send a text or e-mail instantaneously, and receive packages from Amazon in two days. But there is no fast-forward button on God’s plan (Eccl. 3:11).

But although waiting is hard, it is also holy. Waiting provides an opportunity to stretch out our faith across time. Waiting expresses trust in God’s goodness and wisdom, as waiting essentially says, “God knows better than I do. My life and times are in His hands” (cf. Ps. 31:15). And thankfully, we do not have to wither while waiting, for God promises to strengthen us: “But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isa. 40:31).

Jacob of old waited fourteen years for Rachel, but it “seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her” (Gen. 29:20). And when we believe that God and His good plan are worth waiting for, how long we must wait will matter very little. As the Puritan George Swinnock wisely stated, “To lengthen my patience is the best way to shorten my troubles.” That is, the more we resolve to wait and trust in the Lord’s perfect timing, the less we will think about how long our suffering must last. Waiting is worthwhile, so let us take our eyes off of our clocks and calendars and fix them upon our Creator whose timing is always perfectly precise.

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Lord, Teach Us to Pray | Bible Gleanings | September 6-7, 2025

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“Teach me how to play like that,” I requested, after watching the old man shred on the guitar. All I knew how to play was “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Smoke on the Water,” but I felt compelled to learn from his example after such an impressive performance. And after closely watching Jesus while He prayed, one of the disciples was so impressed that they inquired, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1b). This prompted the Master-Prayer to give His disciples then and now what is known as The Lord’s Prayer, which should be called The Disciples’ Prayer, since it is a model prayer for Christ’s followers to imitate (Matt. 6:9-13).

According to Jesus, God-pleasing prayer is God-centered prayer. Instead of giving God a long list of wants, believers should pray with a focus on the Father and His fatherly care for their needs (Matt. 6:9). Thus, children of God should pray with confidence and boldness because God is their Father (Matt. 6:5-8; cf. Heb. 4:16), but also with reverence and respect because God is their Father (Matt. 6:9b; cf. Psalm 3:4). Furthermore, when believers pray, they should contemplate and consider what God wants and wills, rather than what they want (Matt. 6:10). All faithful prayer begins with a concentration and meditation upon the Lord and His desires—not our own. 

God-pleasing prayer is also God-believing prayer. That is why Jesus urged His followers to bring all of their needs to the Lord in prayer, believing that He will meet them. Jesus said that believers should pray for daily necessities like bread, trusting that the omnipotent God will provide them without lifting a finger (Matt. 6:11). He also advised believers to pray for their spiritual needs, such as daily sin-cleansing, knowing that God will purify and forgive according to His abundant mercy (Matt. 6:12; cf. Psalm 51:1). Last but not least, Jesus instructs His saints to pray for the power and grace required to withstand temptation and the Tempter, Satan (Matt. 6:13).

The greatest Pray-er who ever lived knew a thing or two about God-glorifying prayer, and His model prayer is worthy of imitation. Therefore, start with God when you pray, and fixate upon His providence, goodness, mercy, grace, and holiness. Move on to praying about your physical and spiritual needs next, and “in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6b). When you concentrate on God first and your needs last, you will find your problems and worries shrinking in comparison to the great God to whom you pray. David was scared to death that he was going to be killed until he recounted who the Lord was—then he laid down and slept like a baby (cf. Psalm 3:1-6). What would change in your life if you prayed more often like Jesus taught?

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

The Divine Drawbridge | Bible Gleanings | August 23-24, 2025

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The man was sickly, impoverished, and defenseless. The apothecary gave him a cordial, but it was watered-down liquor. A landowner lent him coins, but they slipped through the holes in his satchel. When wolves encircled his home, he drove them away with sticks and stones, only to suffer greater wounds each night. But his dwindling hope revived with a promising thought: “Perhaps the king shall take pity upon me.”

Legends of the king’s wisdom in medicine, abundance of wealth, and vast armory spread among the villages. The king was also known to be generous. In desperation, the man boldly sought the king’s help—something peons would never entertain. And after journeying three days, he beheld the king’s towering castle with relief, only to find the drawbridge raised. With no way inside, the man began hiking home—until he heard a horse galloping behind him. 

Its rider drew close and asked, “Friend, I saw you at the entrance of the king’s castle, appearing vexed. What burdens you?”

The man initially hesitated, but finally confessed: “I am dying, famished, and plagued by wolves each night. I believed the king could help, but I dared not force my way in.”

The rider nodded and said, “I shall see what may be done.”

The man’s eyes glimmered with hope, and he asked: “Truly? And may I ask—who are you?”

The rider smiled and answered, “I am the king’s son. Return tomorrow.”

And the horse-mounted prince rode off into the dusk. 

At daylight, he returned—and there stood the king’s son beside the drawbridge. He commanded the drawbridge to lower, and sat the man on his own horse and proceeded inside.

When they reached the throne room, he began to petition the king: “My lord and king, I,” but the king’s son raised his hand to silence him.

“Father, this man is poor,” said the prince, “He is sick and beset by foes. And he has come seeking your mercy.”

Immediately, the king answered, “Let it be done. Fill his pockets with my own gold. Give him the healing cordial I have prepared. And arm him plentifully, that he may ward off the wolves.”

The Bible speaks of another needy man, another King, another Son, and another drawbridge. As sinners, we are impoverished beggars—sick because of sin, spiritually bankrupt, and defenseless against the wolf, Satan. But God can heal our souls, enrich us with His grace, and equip us with weapons to withstand the devil. And we can enter the throne room of the King to receive what we need, so long as we believe that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, can bring us into God’s presence (John 14:6). God lowers the drawbridge of prayer to those accompanied by His Son. That is why the Scripture says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Farewell to the Flesh | Bible Gleanings | August 16-17, 2025

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The house was deserted and devoid of life. The front door was cracked open, the once-attractive exterior color had retired to a glum grayish-brown, and the silence of death packed the halls. The bubbling tide washed this abandoned residence right up to my feet—it was a suntanned shell, formerly occupied by a hermit crab that vacated it during molting. There comes a moment in every hermit crab’s life when they must depart their old shell in search of a new one. These ten-legged crustaceans do not typically die when they surrender their obsolete housing to the ocean—they simply move on and move into an upgraded version.

The time will come when every Christian must say goodbye to the shell of their old flesh as well. The body is merely a temporary residence and the tide of death will bury your mortal frame six feet beneath a headstone. But the real you—your soul, that is—will live on. If you believe that the death of Christ was the deathblow to death, the earthen vessel of your body is all that truly dies (cf. John 11:25). You will bid adieu to your old shell and live in the eternal presence of the Author of life (Phil. 1:23), and the Lord shall grant you a new and improved body when He returns: “[Jesus] will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Phil. 3:21).

A believer’s death, therefore, is not the end. It is simply the end of living in the fragile shell of the flesh. “For we know,” promised Paul, “that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling” (2 Cor. 5:1-2). And the new shell will be unlike anything you have ever known before:

“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:51-53).

A now-omitted stanza in the cherished hymn Sweet Hour of Prayer, written by William W. Walford (1772-1850), puts it splendidly:

“May I thy con­so­la­tion share,
Till, from Mount Pis­gah’s lof­ty height,
I view my home and take my flight:
This robe of flesh I’ll drop and rise
To seize the ev­er­last­ing prize.”

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Bible Gleanings, devotions

Endure Until the End | Bible Gleanings | August 1-2, 2025

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Wham! A gouging left-hook pierced his right eye. Boof! The world champion heavy-weight boxer threw another lethal strike. “Raaah! Whooo!” shouted the crowd, as Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa battled in the ring. Bif! Bam! Bop! With machine-like accuracy, Creed hammered Rocky’s bloodied face. And then Rocky went down, but he was not out—he slowly rose to his feet, weary but determined.

His handlers begged him to throw in the towel. But with blood streaming down his face, Rocky warned, “You stop this fight, and I’ll kill you!” Then he launched into Creed with the fury of a mad tiger. But even after fifteen rounds of ruthless beating, neither boxer delivered a knockout, and the fight was eventually called. The announcer declared from the mic, “Tonight we have had the privilege of witnessing the greatest exhibition of guts and stamina in the history of the ring!”

Rocky Balboa didn’t win the match, but he finished it. He endured until the end. He wasn’t trying to knock out Apollo Creed. He simply sought to go the distance and prove he could take a beating. To him, finishing well was better than winning every round.

Rocky was right, and the Scripture also teaches that endurance is better than winning every fight. When Paul the apostle was at death’s door, he did not say, “I have won the good fight,” but rather, “I have fought the good fight” (2 Tim. 4:7). The Christian life is not about avoiding failure entirely—it’s about getting back up in faith after being knocked down. True believers stay in the ring and rise for the next round through the strengthening grace of God. As Proverbs 24:16 says, “For the righteous falls seven times and rises again.”

No Christian can always slay their flesh, defeat the devil, or triumph over the enticements of this sinful world. But even when struck down, beaten-up believers can rise again because, “though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand” (Psalm 37:24). When flattened out on the canvas, the believer can say, “Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me” (Micah 7:8). True believers can testify with Paul: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Cor. 4:8-9).

So, don’t give up. Keep on keeping on. Endure until you hear the final bell—the trumpet of Christ’s return (1 Cor. 15:52). Finishing well is better than a perfect performance. As Rocky himself said, “It’s not about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward.”

Brandon is the pastor of Bandana Baptist Church in Bandana, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Dakota, and their three dogs, Susie, Aries, and Dot. Brandon and Dakota are also foster parents through Sunrise Children’s Services of Kentucky. Brandon is also a published author and a religious columnist for the Advance Yeoman newspaper in Ballard County, Kentucky. He is also a devotional contributor for Kentucky Today, a news publication of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. His columns are also featured in the Times-Argus newspaper of Central City, Kentucky, West Kentucky News of western Kentucky, and the online blog, Reforming the Heart.

Bible Gleanings, devotions, Sermons

Following Jesus | Bible Gleanings | April 26-27, 2025

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Amid the noise of splashing water and the smell of squirming fish, Peter and Andrew heard a voice which arrested their attention—it was the voice of Jesus, who issued an invitation that would transform their lives forever: “Follow Me” (Mark 1:17a). Christ did not call these fishermen to follow traditions or adhere to a set of teachings. He did not invite them to attend synagogue services. He ordered these men to follow Him—to say what He said, do what He did, think what He thought, and go where He went. And anyone who heeds this same two-word heavenly summons will have both their life and eternity changed forevermore.

And when Christ urges you to follow Him, He expects nothing less than wholehearted obedience and absolute adherence to Him. When you follow Jesus, you don’t get to blaze your own trail, follow your own rules, or live any way you please. Followers of Christ walk the narrow road that leads to life, obey His commands in Scripture, and make it their aim to please Him. Following Jesus as Lord and Master even entails daily self-denial and sacrifice, as Jesus told all His would-be followers that they must say no to themselves and yes to any cross He gave them to carry: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Thus, those who wish to follow Christ at all must follow Him above all.

Those who “follow” Jesus only when it is convenient with a what’s-in-it-for-me attitude aren’t authentic followers. All throughout His life, Jesus was surrounded by large crowds of “fans” who flocked to Him only when He worked miracles and provided free meals of fish and loaves (Matt. 4:25; 8:1; Mark 3:7; 5:24; John 6:1-14). However, when they realized that following Jesus was costly, requiring surrender and submission, they followed Him no longer. As John recounted, “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (John 6:66). Therefore, the questions we must continually ask ourselves are, Which am I? Am I a fan among the crowd, or a follower carrying a cross?

This column is from my newest book, 40 Days with Jesus, which is a forty-day daily devotional on the life, teachings, and miracles of Jesus. This book is available in hardcover and paperback on Amazon: