Tag Archives: discipline

Take Care of Yourself

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“Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.”
(1 Timothy 4:16 ESV)

Will you go see the doctor, please?

This is the question, or tacit command, expressed by several good friends to me last night at theatre rehearsal.  My back was in so much pain, I wasn’t much fun to be around.

It wasn’t the first time I had heard this plea; my wife has been begging me to take care of myself for a couple of months now.  I don’t think she much cares for the irritability and crankiness that comes with lingering back pain. 

I don’t know what caused this back pain, but it’s been going on for at least 4 months now – and yes, I have an appointment to see the Doctor today.  It’s time to take care of myself.

And, maybe it’s a good reminder for all of us to exercise some measure of self care.  I have on my shelf a little booklet entitled “The Minister’s Self-Watch” by C.H. Spurgeon which begins:

Every workman knows the necessity of keeping his tools in good state of repair, for “if the iron be blunt, and he does not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength.”  If the workman lose the edge from his adze, he knows that here will be a greater draught upon his energies, or work will be badly done… We shall usually do our Lord’s work best when our gifts and graces are in good order, and we shall do worst when they are most out of trim.

Is your life in good order.

Sometimes we let the hectic, frenetic pace of our lives overwhelm us.  Our physical discipline goes out the window.  We stop exercising.  We make bad choices in our diet.  We stay up late and don’t get enough sleep.  (And when I say “we”, you know I mean “I”.)  But we also tend to neglect the spiritual disciplines as well.  Our prayers become shorter and shorter, until they cease to be offered.  Our reading and devotion becomes rudimentary and never really impacts or affects our lives.  Our worship, which out to be a joyful celebration of the glory of God and a heartfelt commitment of service in the Lord, becomes perfunctory and dry.  (Again, “Our” = “My”.)

We were called to be the salt of the earth, to bring flavor and a preservative quality to the world.  But, as Jesus said, when salt loses its saltiness, it is worthless and thrown out and trampled under foot.

Spurgeon goes on to say:

“A train is said to have been stopped on one of the United State’s railways by flies in the grease-boxes of the carriage wheels.  The analogy is perfect; a man in all other respects fitted to be useful, may by some small defect be exceedingly hindered, or even rendered useless.”

So here is my thought for the day: Take care of yourself.  You know what you need to do physically.  If you are struggling with pain and physical set backs, talk to your doctor and get to the bottom of it.  If you are able to get out and exercise (walk, run, bike, swim, garden, etc..), do it.  Go to bed at a descent time, get a good night’s sleep.  Make healthy choices for your meals.  Get your body in order.

But get your spiritual life in order as well.  You will not find the time in your busy day for prayer and devotion.  There are enough forces working against such spiritual disciplines to keep you far away from such sweet communion with God.  You must make the time.  Set aside 10 to 15 minutes a day for private worship and prayer.  Read your scriptures, which Hebrews calls the double edge sword, that will trim away from your life all that would keep you from walking with the Lord.  Come to worship, not because you must, but because you may, because you have been invited by the grace of God, and because you want all of our life to be an act of worship before Him.

Spurgeon quotes one of my favorites, Robert M. M’Cheyne, saying,

“How diligently the Calvary officer keeps his sabre clean and sharp; every stain he rubs off with the greatest care.  Remember you are God’s sword, His instrument – I trust, a chosen vessel unto him to bear his name.  In great measure, according to the purity and perfection of the instrument, will be the success.  It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus.  A holy minister (and I will add, saint) is an awful weapon in the hand of God.”

May God continue to work in you, that you may be clean and sharp, ready for the good work to which He has called you.

SDG

What an indocile…

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“But I discipline my body and keep it under control,
lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”
(1 Corinthians 9:27 ESV)

I haven’t been running since February. I have a list of excuses, but that’s all they are. The simple fact is, I’m not disciplined enough right now. This is evident in my lack of exercise, and in every other area of my life.

It seems that when I’m not running, not disciplining myself in that one area, all other discipline goes out the window too. I’m not very careful about what I eat, nor when. I get lazy with my time, time and work and home. I don’t floss as regularly as I should.

But the lack of physical conditioning carries over into the spiritual, too. When the physical discipline is gone, I notice that my prayer life is anemic, my daily reading and personal study dwindles, and my general disposition towards ministry is grim. I find myself relying on my own strength, running on my own steam, and finding that I’m full of a lot of hot air.

I don’t think this is exactly what Paul had in mind when he wrote about disciplining the body so as not to disqualify his preaching. Read in context, we see that Paul is making a powerful argument about what true freedom in Christ looks like. In Corinthians chapter 6, Paul addresses sexual immorality, in chapter 7, the principles of marriage and singleness, in chapter 8, what to do with food sacrificed to idols. Chapter 9, however, Paul emphasizes the fact that, for the sake of others, he surrendered his rights for the sake of the gospel. He did not claim his rights to receive payment for his work, He did not throw his authority around so that others would serve him. Instead, Paul became all things to all people, and a servant to all that he might win more of them. He kept himself from that which was rightfully his, and did not take his freedom in Christ as license for indulgence, so that he would not disqualify himself and his preaching.

Still, without discipline, I run the risk of disqualifying myself and my preaching. If the well runs dry, the people will turn elsewhere to find water. If, by lack of discipline and self-control, I lead myself into the barren wilderness of spiritual neglect, how can I ever hope to serve as your pastor? My sermons will become just that, my sermons, rather than a faithful, and prayerful proclamation of the Word of God.

If, by never taking time to delight myself in the presence of God through pray and the study of His word, how can I ever hope to share in your joy in the Lord?

There is an old hymn that you all know:

Trust and obey
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus
Than to trust and obey

As an evangelical Christian, I’ve got the trust down. I trust in Jesus for my salvation. I know that I am secure in Him, that my sin has been forgiven, that my guilt is taken away, and that, by God’s grace, I now live in the power of the Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Christ from the dead. I love Him, and so I trust Him entirely with my life.

I guess my trouble is with the obey part. If I love Him, won’t I obey Him? Won’t I be listening and watching for the guidance of His Spirit as I attend to His word and kneel in prayer? If I love Him, won’t I want to live my life in a way that shows my love and my gratitude for His tender mercy and lavish grace?

I know that there is in me a desire to walk closely with the Lord, to be found faithful in His eyes, and to live for His glory. In that knowledge, I know that God’s Spirit is working in me, for if I was content in my lack of discipline, then I would be worried. Still, I hear the words of Paul, encouraging me to compete for the crown, to exercise self-control that I might receive the imperishable crown of glory. I know I must be renewed in discipline.

And I find myself in good company. Jonathon Edwards, while known for many things, is also famous for his list of resolutions. I wanted to share just a couple with you here:

Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

Resolved, that I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it-that what my listlessness inclines me to do, is best to be done.

Resolved, very much to exercise myself in this all my life long, viz. with the greatest openness I am capable of, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him: all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and every thing, and every circumstance.

And so I resolve to be more disciplined in my life, physically and spiritually. And while I make this resolution, I also hear the words of another great Puritan, John Owen, who wrote, “To suppose that whatever God requires of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect.” I make my resolution, trusting solely in the grace of Christ to strengthen and support me, for I know apart from Him I can do nothing.

SDG