Saturday, October 18, 2008

Working out my Faith and more on this obsession

I heard someone recently talk about working out, how people get obsessed with working out and they love it and it becomes a passion and obsession and they take it to excess. I know that at first the working out was a struggle for even these people. The first little while it feels like there are no results, just pain and soreness, but then results start showing up from being disciplined and one starts to love the workout high or runners high, or just the feeling of getting the adrenaline going, being physically active and seeing one’s body get stronger and look better!

This can be compared with our spiritual disciplines. I have heard people the last couple of years start to shy away from disciplines, it almost seems like the “in” thing to just follow the spirit and throw out the disciplines. But, as the old term goes “don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!” (I couldn’t resist using that phrase!) I am all for the spirit leading us, but we still need spiritual disciplines in our lives. It is the same as this physically training, at first it is difficult, but as we train and push through the hard times God rewards us… and eventually we will break through the proverbial wall and feel Christ’s presence in a new and incredible way!

We don’t need to be afraid of disciplines, they don’t remove the spirit from our lives, but they help us. They give us another avenue to hear Christ’s voice. I pray that as we train and keep moving forward as Christ’s disciples that we will fall more and more in love with Him each day. That we will become obsessed with Him and want to know Him more and more deeply every day. That the obsession that people have for working out, for music, for drama, for their significant other, that those obsessions will be dwarfed next to our obsession with our Creator!

As was shared with me recently (I find it amazing that a thought will be in my head and then I will hear several people in the same day share something that reinforces my thoughts and prayers!), “Prayer is not the purpose of the Christian life, neither are any of the vital disciplines that Jesus modeled for us. The disciplines, however, set into motion a mysterious transformation as we deepen our intimacy with God. Transformation then is set into motion by our heart’s desire to follow Jesus and in humility submit ourselves to the practice of the disciplines in community. We allow others to help us keep our commitments to God. A discipline will join a new order of life, a life of discipline and accountability, to be transformed into the image of Christ. There is a new way of saying this that I have found very helpful. We should train to be godly, instead of trying to be godly” (p.19-20, Bill Hull, Jesus Christ Disciplemaker).

I pray that I will fall in love with Christ and that the disciplines that can be used to draw closer to him will become a passion rather than a chore. That I will never be satisfied with doing my "15 minutes a day", but will constantly be wanting more of Him, in anyway that I can get to know Him!

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