Not serious enough...
I’m not a gym rat. I low-key hate working out. Ok, I more than low-key hate it. It isn’t fun. It isn’t easy. It isn’t something I look forward to doing. It’s like any discipline though, if I want to see progress I have to dedicate myself to it. If I want to reduce the size of my waistline, I need to pay attention to what I eat, when I eat, and how active I am. If I want to grow Herculean biceps—I’ll take pop guns by the way, thanks—I can’t will that into existence without actually doing the work.
Sometimes studying the Bible is dreary and I get out of the habit in a blink. Understand, I’m not talking about preparing sermons. I do that just about every week. Chefs don’t just make meals for you to consume; they have to consume nourishment as well. In fact, if they’re not keeping up their nutrition, how can they feed you anything delicious? A gourmet chef can perhaps muster up enough strength to make a meal or two without refreshing himself, but that pattern propagates a paucity of health. One cannot continually pour oneself out; eventually the streams dry up to become gullies that only fill when the rains come.
Jesus tells the Samaritan woman, “But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.” (John 4:14, CSB) It’s an interesting thought to be certain because it can lead you to a place where you feel like you only need this one-time event, this one “filling up of one’s tank” so to speak. The apostle Paul speaks to a different cadence of life though, telling the Ephesian church to “be filled by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18, CSB) You may have heard and so already know the Greek for “be filled” implies a perpetual filling, an on-going process by which you are filled and continue to be full. Whether you know that or not, let us not miss that Jesus and Paul speak of a pursuit of God. You have to want it
By its nature, a pursuit is an active process. Yet we fail to exert ourselves to chase down God’s presence. He is not far from us, yet we drift away from him. We slip-slide away from devotional time in the word by ourselves. We prioritize our comfort, our pleasure, and our numbness over seeking out your face. We carve out time for recreation which squeezes time for you out of our schedules.
Understand, I’m no advocate for a legalistic check-box of putting time with God or in his word on your to-do list just so that you can say you’ve done it. Rather, I urge you to take seriously the task of being filled by the Spirit.
Spend time in the Bible.
Make an effort to study it, pray about it, and learn from it in order to be strengthened and fulfilled by what God provides for your heart through his word.
For what it’s worth…
I’m planning on getting back into the swing of writing things more regularly. If I don’t prioritize it, much like my personal devotional life, it disintegrates. My plan is to write at least weekly, and hopefully you’ll find it worth your time.
Photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash
I have learned that old age, poor health, and plenty of time helps to create a passion for God’s word. When I was working I read my Bible daily, but only for short periods of time before work. It was part of my morning ritual. I know I gained from it, but when I think how much I’ve grown since retiring, there is no comparison. It’s as if I played at being a Christian for so many years. Then came retirement, an illness that has totally changed my life, and a deep need to really know my Savior. He has certainly met that need. I love spending time in His word, journaling verses that touch me in some new way, and listening to some excellent preaching. My life is more focused on God’s kingdom and less on this earthly one. So, getting old and getting sick are turning out much differently than I expected. But, oh the blessings I find daily as I walk this path with Him!