May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our ancestors. May he not abandon us or leave us so that he causes us to be devoted to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commands, statutes, and ordinances, which he commanded our ancestors…..May all the peoples of the earth know that the Lord is God. There is no other! Be wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord our God to walk in his statutes and to keep his commands, as it is today.”” 1 Kings 8:57-58, 60-61 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/1ki.8.57-61.CSB

The tension in the Christian life is the need for the Holy Spirit to form us into the image of Jesus while we also do all we can to comply with His work in our lives. Jesus has promised not to forsake us but to be with His church until the end of the age. Jesus has sent us the promised Holy Spirit, God, to live within us, transform us from the inside out, and live holy and godly lives pleasing to Him that we can never do from our human and sinful nature. Yet Jesus commands us to obey everything He has commanded. We are required to become avid workers at knowing God’s word and applying God’s word to our lives. We are to fully engage the work of God, the building of His kingdom upon earth as it is in heaven, through seeking and saving the lost and then teaching obedience to everything Jesus commanded. This focus on Jesus and busyness with His work will keep us from living self-centered, unproductive lives and create an eternal reward, proving our love for God and His presence with us. We need the Holy Spirit to help us understand His word and His work even as we must open the book to read it, drop to our knees to pray for His will to be done, and then open our mouths to share the love of God in Christ Jesus. Our Christian life is totally dependent upon the work of the Holy Spirit in us, even as He depends upon working through us with our total cooperation, the will of God, which is loving Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves.