Celebration of Discipline

 Many years ago I read a book titled The Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.  It had a huge impact on my walk with God as I considered the many ways in which I could participate with God in developing my spiritual life.  A couple of years ago I discovered a companion book titled A Year with God: Living Out The Spiritual Disciplines.  When we entered into the lock-down in the early Covid-19 months and I had more time on my hands than usual, I decided to work my way through that book and in that way renew my pursuit of spiritual discipline in my own life.

According to Richard Foster, there are eighteen spiritual disciplines: With-God living (i.e., seeing God in my everyday life), prayer, study, confession, worship, service, secrecy, guidance, meditation, solitude, fellowship, fasting, chastity, submission, sacrifice, silence, simplicity, and celebration.  

With-God Living ... a concept I have found myself seeking more and more in my walk with God.  I have found it developing all throughout my life, from the time I was a child right up until now although for many years I was not aware of it as "with-God living."

One way I understand it is the fact that I have been created to share a unique relationship with God and know His presence in a uniquely human way.  That means that I have the ability to see and know God in a way that animals and plants cannot, even though they were also created by Him.  There are times when I see that relationship with Him when reading Scripture that was difficult to understand.  I sensed His presence as He gave me new insight into the passage,  I sense His presence in an encouraging email message from a friend or a note in my mailbox, or a plate of newly baked cookies from a neighbor when I am feeling discouraged.  I see God in the creative activities of making a sympathy card for a friend, or in covering an inexpensive journal with some pretty scrapbooking paper.  It comes as a result of my seeking God in every part of my life, or, as Foster calls it, "With-God Living", and it is spiritually revitalizing.

Goaded

Ecclesiastes 12:11

The words of the wise are like goads …

When I first read this, my reaction was negative because when I think of “goads” I think of a cattle prod, something uncomfortable or even painful.  I looked up “goad” in the dictionary and as happens so often, I gained new understanding of the meaning of this verse by doing so!  “Goad” is indeed a prod, such as an electrified pole that pushes cattle along.  The other meaning of the word is “an encouragement or a stimulus,” and that puts a whole new layer of meaning to this verse.  The words of a wise person should be stimulating the hearers, encouraging them to do the right thing, to make wise decisions.  At times that might mean speaking uncomfortable things to them.  When I speak wisely, my goal should be to gently but firmly force the thinking and action of the hearer towards godly thinking and doing.  When I do that, I will be goading them along the path of righteousness.

When I read this in my devotions this week, I immediately thought of the Sunday School lesson I was studying for the week from I Peter 2:4-15.  There are goads that God uses in our lives to push us along toward spiritual growth, gently prodding us along. 

            v.5 = be a living stone, built to be a holy priesthood

            v.5 = offer acceptable sacrifices

            v.6 = believe in Him

            v.6 = never be put to shame

            v.7 = receive honor

            

I Peter 2:11-16 gives us the goads we use to point others to Christ, ways we can prod them along the path of righteousness. 

         v.11 = live pure lives

         v.12 = conduct yourself honorably

         v.13 = be submission to authority, wherever it is

         v.14 = do not abuse your freedom 

 

I need God’s goading to push me along into a deeper walk with Him and at the same time I want God to use me to prod others!

Determination

II Kings 18:3-8 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord … he removed the high places … he trusted in the Lord … he held fast to the Lord … he rebelled against the king of Assyria and world not serve him … he struck down the Philistines.

King Hezekiah is a good example of what one does when determined to do what is right and honorable in following the Lord.  He did not just decide to do what was right, he acted on his decision.  He got rid of everything that might keep him from following through on his decision.  He removed things that would tempt him to sin (the “high placed” and idols).  He rebelled when he couldn’t do anything else, and refused to let outside influenced control his actions.  He destroyed (“struck down”) things that could cause him present or future distraction and trouble.  And he was proactive in his pursuit of doing what was right.  These verses tell us he not only trusted in the Lord.  He held fast to the Lord.  This tells me he was not naïve about the potential he had to give up and give in to the things that could tempt him away from his determination to follow God.

Not repairing my house?

II Kings 12:7b Why are you not repairing the house?

King Jehoash was a king who wanted to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord.  He saw that the temple was in disrepair because of the lack of interest on the part of the people and even the priests (too much attention paid to other worship instead of to the worship of God) so he told the priests to be repairing God’s house.  Yet after 23 years the priests still had done no work … just collected money to do the work.  And the king’s response really struck me today as I re-read this account.  There was no good reason to not be doing the repairs.  There was no lack of means, of supplies, or of personnel.  It was procrastination and/or pure laziness.  It made me stop and think again about my own life and what keeps me from reaching my own goals.  Although I never used to procrastinate, I see that tendency creeping into my life in these retirement years.  Why am I not repairing my own bodily house?  I can only say it is procrastination and laziness that keeps me from pursuing better physical and spiritual health.  I have no other valid excuse.

Opened minds

Luke 24:45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

The disciples had spent almost all their time with Jesus for three years, watching Him and being exposed to His teaching but thy still had not grasped much of the essence of who He was or what He had been teaching.  In a sense, their minds were still caught up in the teaching and training they had carried from their childhood as Jewish children, taught in the Jewish traditions.  But here, in a room after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jesus opened their minds and they were ready to not only know but to understand what they knew.  Now they were empowered for future ministry. There is a difference between knowing something and understanding it.  The disciples are certainly not alone in that experience.  Only God can give me the ability to understand what I know.  My prayer is that as I continue to learn, He will continue to give me understanding.  That is the key to any continued spiritual growth or ministry to others that I may have.

Essential pruning

John 15:2, 6 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, wile every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. … If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers, such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

As soon as a branch has blossomed/born fruit and it has wither died (like a flower) or been picked, it is not going to reproduce any further unless it is pruned.  It is going to be necessary to cut off the dead flower or the spot where the fruit had been in order to make the branch reproduce again.  In the same way, God has to prune us after we have had a spurt of growth before we can grow again.  We will grow “stale” if we don not remove the residue of our previous growth experience.  That is, we cannot stay right where we are spiritually or we will not be growing.  And the pruning is the sign of growth and fruitfulness … no growth means eventually being cut off completely and tossed away.  We will become totally useless to “God if we do not get pruned as we grow.