Discipline?
Prayer. Bible reading. Meditation. Fasting. These, along with a number of other things, are what we refer to collectively as "the spiritual disciplines." What an obtuse term. Who really wants to practice spiritual discipline? The idea of discipline seems so boring, restrictive, and terribly un-modern. Patience, discipline, toil- these things have become somewhat akin to curse words. Shouldn't religion or spirituality be more free flowing than this? More free flowing, perhaps, than any part of life? And more gratifying, too. Right? I don't have any data on this, but it is my assumption that most Christians would like to know God better. I have a simple question. Why do we think that it would be easy? Don't get me wrong, God isn't grading us on a "he tried harder than she did" scale. The only basis for a right relationship with and forgiveness by God is the finished work of Christ on the cross. Nor is a relationship with God difficult in the same way...