Are you as confused as I am …

Ok – now I think I am confused.

Last night I talked about lightening up and really living life.  I mentioned enjoying the journey as I walk with God.  I warned against meaningless habits :

“He (the devil) tries to get me to be religious – with meaningless rituals instead of communing with the living God.  He tries to get me to look at things like church as habits.  He tries to get my mind to wander and not to engage with God”

On July 30th I wrote about spiritual discipline.  I encouraged godly habits. 

“You can develop godly habits.  As you execute those habits you will grow in Christlikeness.   As time passes on you will discover that the things that were hard to remember to do will gradually become easier.  They become part of your routine.   You discipline yourself to time in prayer, time in the Word, and time in fellowship.  As these become a habit, you begin to look forward to these activities.  You long to spend time with Christ.  You miss it when it doesn’t happen.”

Aren’t these two ideas in conflict which each other?  How can both be true?

I think there are two things to think about here.  The first one is to have balance in your life while serving Christ.  You want to reach out and be a blessing to others but you don’t want to get so exhausted that you can’t take care of your own relationship with Christ. 

The second thing I am reminded of is that not all habits are meaningless.  Habits can be good things.  The key is when you are in church or Bible study, be sure to focus on God, on meeting with God, on developing a meaningful relationship with God.  Doing these things just to do them, will gain you nothing. 

I am reminded tonight of one of my favorite verses.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

Confusion gone for now.  Feel free to comment on how you balance the ideas of joyful living and spiritual discipline.

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