Do you ever practice living a Christian life of faith? Huh? Practice? What’s to practice? Doesn’t the Holy Spirit just kind of come in and take over? Why do I need to practice anything? I’m too busy practicing for my career to worry about this kind of thing!
Here’s the thing about those questions. Many of us do practice for our career. Whether it’s learning, training, advancing, or whatever, most people at least want to get better at their job. And that takes practice. Practice that most of us are willing to make time for.
So then, why do we consider living a Christian life of faith to be not worthy of “practice”?
Summary
Discusses the concept of practicing living a Christian life of faith, drawing parallels between the dedication required for professional success and spiritual growth.
Practice in Faith: The page questions why many people prioritize career practice over spiritual practice, suggesting that living a Christian life of faith also requires regular practice and dedication.
Baseball Analogy: It uses the analogy of a baseball player’s practice to illustrate the importance of consistent effort in faith, implying that just as athletes practice to improve, Christians should also practice their faith to grow spiritually.
Scriptural References: The page cites passages from the Bible, including Matthew 22:34-40 and Exodus 20:1-17, to emphasize the commandments of loving God and having no other gods, which are foundational to Christian practice.
Spiritual Preparedness: It stresses the importance of being spiritually prepared for life’s challenges, drawing from Dallas Willard’s teachings on the art of living and the necessity of preparing oneself in all aspects of being.
Encourages readers to reflect on their commitment to practicing their faith and to consider the role of such practice in their daily lives.
Do baseball players practice?
Do baseball players practice? OK, that probably sounds like a stupid question. Of course, baseball players practice.
If they didn’t, they’d never make it to the pros. Even then, if they stopped practicing, they wouldn’t last long. Generally, they want to win. If long hours of practice and time away from everything else in their life is required, they do it. It’s part of the job.
Check out the swing in the adjacent image. Sure, the batter hit the ball.
But it was straight down to the ground. Chances are it rolls forward a bit, the catcher throws it to first, and the runner’s out.
Yes, it happens even to the best. But then, it happens way more often we the player doesn’t practice. Next thing you know, he’s not a player anymore.
On the other hand, take the next guy.
This one practices a lot.
Nice swing. Good contact. A hit. Most likely, he’s on base.
Most likely, he also plays a lot longer than the one above who didn’t practice.
He makes more money. Becomes more famous.
People know who he is.
He got here by long hours of practice. Hours that very likely started when he was a little kid.
He had his dream and would do whatever it took to accomplish it.
Is God more important than baseball?
Is God more important than baseball? Is that too hard of a question for you? If it is, that fact alone says something. And if you’re Christian, what it says isn’t good.
What does this baseball example tell us about God?
What does this baseball example tell us about God? Sorry for the misleading question. It doesn’t tell us so much about God as it tells us about ourselves. It asks us if we care as much about God as we care about baseball. Or Football. Hockey. Or anything else that takes up significant time in our lives.
Check out the excerpt below from The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives.
What we find here is true of any human endeavor capable of giving significance to our lives. We are touching upon a general principle of human life. It’s true for the public speaker or the musician, the teacher or the surgeon. A successful performance at a moment of crisis rests largely and essentially upon the depths of a self wisely and rigorously prepared in the totality of its being—mind and body. 1
Willard, Dallas. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (p. 4). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
Notice especially this part: A successful performance at a moment of crisis rests largely and essentially upon the depths of a self wisely and rigorously prepared in the totality of its being—mind and body.
Now, with that in mind, think about these two things Jesus told us:
Love the Lord with all your …
The Greatest Commandment – Matthew
22:34-40 pp — Mk 12:28-31
Mt 22:34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Mt 22:37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
No God before me
Jesus refers to:
The Ten Commandments – Exodus
20:1-17 pp — Dt 5:6-21
Ex 20:1 And God spoke all these words:
Ex 20:2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Ex 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
Ex 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Ex 20:7 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Ex 20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Ex 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Ex 20:13 “You shall not murder.
Ex 20:14 “You shall not commit adultery.
Ex 20:15 “You shall not steal.
Ex 20:16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
Ex 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Ex 20:18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
Ex 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
Ex 20:21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
when He was tempted by Satan:
The Temptation of Jesus – Matthew
4:1-11 pp — Mk 1:12, 13; Lk 4:1-13
Mt 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Mt 4:4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’’”
Mt 4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’’”
Mt 4:7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’’”
Mt 4:8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Mt 4:10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’’”
Mt 4:11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Where is God in your life?
So let’s take the relevant portions of each of the segments we just looked at and put them all together.
- A successful performance at a moment of crisis rests largely and essentially upon the depths of a self wisely and rigorously prepared in the totality of its being—mind and body.
- ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
- Ex 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
- “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’’”
What do we have? We have a reminder that, as Christians, God should be number one in our lives. Given that we do for other portions of our lives, such as being good at what we do for a living, we should be putting in that much more effort for God. He is the One we should be worshiping and serving.
However, as Dallas Willard points out, are we doing that? Are we even capable of doing it? Not that we physically or spiritually cannot do it. Rather, have we put ourselves in a position where we’re prepared to be able to do it? Do we “practice” like the baseball player? Or do we just assume we’ll be ready when the time comes?
Here’s what I mean:
And what is true of specific activities is, of course, also true of life as a whole. As Plato long ago saw, there is an art of living, and the living is excellent only when the self is prepared in all the depths and dimensions of its being.
Further, this is not a truth to be set aside when we come to our relationship with God. We are saved by grace, of course, and by it alone, and not because we deserve it. That is the basis of God’s acceptance of us. But grace does not mean that sufficient strength and insight will be automatically “infused” into our being in the moment of need. Abundant evidence for this claim is available precisely in the experience of any Christian. We only have to look at the facts. A baseball player who expects to excel in the game without adequate exercise of his body is no more ridiculous than the Christian who hopes to be able to act in the manner of Christ when put to the test without the appropriate exercise in godly living. 2Willard, Dallas. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (pp. 4-5). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
We do many things to prepare ourselves for life. Whether it be work or play, most of us don’t just go from thing to thing to thing, prepared for none of them. We like to know what we’re getting into. We don’t like to fail. So we prepare. We practice.
So then why is it that so often, we go to church on Sunday, and then just wait for the next Sunday? How do we prepare?
Or do we think Sunday is the preparing part? But then, if that’s the case, what are we preparing for? And is a couple hours once a week – or less, sometimes far less – enough of preparing for our Christian life of faith?
Seriously. What do we think we can do with that little preparation?
Do we practice living a Christian life of faith as we go through our “normal” daily activities?
Do we practice living a Christian life of faith as we go through our “normal” daily activities? We’ve already looked at baseball. Whether it’s for work, for play in a local league, or just getting together with some friends, we all like to win. and if we don’t practice somehow, sometime, we’re gonna lose!
So let’s switch to something that’s “play”. A party. Some type of get-together. But it’s specifically not a church event. It’s just a party with a bunch of people. Maybe they’re Christians. But maybe they aren’t. There’s a good chance, it’ll be a mixture. (Remember, I said it’s not a church event – of any religion.)
But that doesn’t change the reality that you are a Christian. Which also means Jesus’ words below should be in our minds while we’re at the party:
Salt and Light
Mt 5:13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
Mt 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Those words tell us how to live. Not just on Sundays. Not just for a few hours. And not just at church. And they still hold even when we’re at a party that’s got nothing to do with church. Which one of the people below will represent you?
At a party where you practice living a Christian life of faith
You’re keeping everything we looked at above in your mind.
In fact, you’re keeping your Christian faith in mind. And all the things you’ve learned about and from Jesus.
Of course, He’s not really in the room. Neither you nor anyone else can literally see Jesus.
And yet, He does ‘”live in you”, through the Holy Spirit.
And you’re allowing, even asking for, the Holy Spirit to be with you and remind you if things begin to get off the path.
Through Jesus, you are the light to the others in the room.
You’re doing this. Shortly, we’ll get into why you can act and live like a Christian, even at a party where Jesus is maybe the furthest thing from any of the conversations.
At a party where you don’t practice living a Christian life of faith
You’re keeping nothing we looked at above in your mind.
In fact, you’re not keeping anything of your Christian faith in mind. None of the things you’ve learned about and from Jesus. Or, maybe you do think of them, but then reject the prompting from the Holy Spirit.
Of course, He’s not really in the room. Neither you nor anyone else can literally see Jesus.
And yet, He does ‘”live in you”, through the Holy Spirit. However, since you’re ignoring/forgetting about your promises to Jesus, no one sees Him in you.
And you’re not allowing, or even asking for, the Holy Spirit to be with you and remind you if things begin to get off the path. If anything, you’re turning Him away.
Through Jesus, you could have been the light to the others in the room. But you weren’t. So we see a very different viewpoint of Jesus here. Disappointment. But with the hope that you will return to Him.
You’re doing this. Shortly, we’ll get into why you didn’t act and live like a Christian, at a party where Jesus is maybe the furthest thing from any of the conversations.
Why we can or cannot live a life of Christian faith
Those who call themselves Christians have a whole range of attitudes about God. One of them is just how often they want to “be with God”.
Baptized and mission complete
At one end of the spectrum are those who got baptized and things that’s it. They’re done.
Pop Tart Christians
Strong and mature Christians do not simply pop out of the oven overnight. The fruit of the Spirit takes time to grow in a person.
Of course, this isn’t what the Bible tells us at all.
Being a Christian is a process. A process that doesn’t end until we reach Heaven.
It’s a transformation. God accepts us as we are, because we love Him. But He doesn’t leave us where we are. He wants us to change. To change so drastically that we become less and less like we were and become more and more like Christ.
Living a Christian life is more than behaving like a Christian on Sundays at church
The Christian life isn’t merely meeting Jesus on Sundays at church.
We have the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the white dove, in us from the moment we’re baptized. That’s not so we can bring Him out at church and then pack Him away deep in our hearts and minds for the rest of the week.
The Holy Spirit is a gift from the Father, promised by Jesus, to guide our lives. To keep us on track while we’re being transformed into His image.
You may remember that Jesus made some promises about the Holy Spirit.
But do you remember what those promises were? Do you remember the purposes for having the Holy Spirit in your life?
And do we take advantage of any of those things on any day other than Sunday? Worse yet, do we even remember them on Sundays?
Jesus Promises The Holy Spirit
Jn 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
Jn 14:22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jn 14:23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
Jn 14:25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Jn 14:28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
“Come now; let us leave.”
If you missed it, check out verse 26:
26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
Jesus told parables. Was He hiding something?
Jesus told parables. Lots of them. But what exactly is a parable? What’s the point of them? Are parables to tell us something? Or are they to hide something from us? Either way, how much do we really understand of the parables Jesus told us? That’s a lot of questions! Let’s get some answers.
The Holy Spirit will teach us and remind us of everything Jesus taught. But then, there is a catch to that, in a way. We can’t be reminded of things we never read, can we?
We can be taught about things we read – learn more about them. But we can’t be taught the deeper meanings of something about which we don’t even know the simple meanings.
That was the point of Jesus speaking in parables.
And if we don’t use the Holy Spirit within us, we also won’t understand the deeper meanings of the parables either.
The thing is, even if we know these things, but only practice them on Sundays, that’s just not good enough.
Jesus gave us things to do for the Kingdom. God created us for a purpose. Do we honestly believe we can accomplish everything we were created for in a couple hours, once a week? And for too many, not even once a week, but maybe once or twice a year.
That just doesn’t make sense.
Living as a Christian on more than just Sundays, but still on our terms
What if we’re willing to give Jesus more than just some hours on Sundays? Is better good enough?
Maybe we should ask, is anything less than all our heart, soul, mind, and strength truly “good enough”?
Honestly, it depends on the point of view and the meaning behind “good enough”.
There’s a section in 1 Corinthians with a bit of an odd title. Not odd because it doesn’t happen. But odd because there’s so much more in it than Divisions in the Church. Let’s take a look, then get into why it’s relevant here.
On Divisions in the Church
1Co 3:1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?
1Co 3:5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
1Co 3:10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
1Co 3:16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
1Co 3:18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” 21 So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
It gets into who we follow. Of course, we should be following Jesus. But even a cursory glance around us will show up so many people, many of whom – by all appearances – don’t actually follow Jesus themselves. And yet, we’re more than willing to follow their version of Christianity. It’s hard enough to follow Jesus when even the Christian scholars and leaders don’t even agree on many things. But when we go too far away from even them, then we’re in big trouble.
So Paul gets into laying down a foundation. And as he points out, if we don’t have a good foundation because we followed the wrong interpretations of what Jesus taught, our life as a Christian can look anything but Christian. Because it isn’t!
But look what he says about having a proper foundation:
1Co 3:10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
What we did in this life will be tested. And it’s possible that everything we thought we accomplished will be burned up. Everything. And yet, we’re still in Heaven. We just don’t get a reward. To be sure, Heaven itself is the place to be, even without any reward. But – I have to wonder, just how many people truly believe in Jesus, try to follow Him, and accomplish nothing for Him that survives this test?
Who knows? That might even be me. Although I certainly pray that I’m accomplishing something for God’s Kingdom.
Could I do more? Could I have done more, especially if I’d stuck with God when I was younger? No doubt. But then, if I didn’t mess up and have problems earlier, could I still write about and talk about my life and have the same impact as if I’d had a smooth life? I doubt it.
We just need to have faith that we’re God is using us to help others with the stuff we needed help with.
What if we walk with Jesus sometimes, but not always?
Earlier, we look at a couple of people at parties. One was acting in a Christian manner, but the other wasn’t.
The thing is, if both were Christian, and wanted to follow Jesus, how come one succeeds and the other doesn’t? Maybe it’s because of the way they react to the Holy Spirit trying to get their attention when they begin to get off the path.
For instance, take a look at this image. Of course, this is the scene of what’s happening at a spiritual level. No one actually sees this with their eyes. It shows where the Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ as Paul refers to Him, trying to get the young lady’s attention. But she says “No!”, as indicated by the extended hand.
We also see Jesus holding up His hand, which is something we’d do to indicate that we don’t want to fight or force our way to happen. Remember, the Holy Spirit is the still small voice. The whisper of wind. He will not force us to do anything. We do have the free will to reject Him.
So, what if we reject Jesus most of the time? If we won’t even go to Him/listen to Him at the “relatively easy” times, how do we think we can go to Him (quickly) in the hard times?
When things get crazy, we tend to rely on instinct, go with our natural reactions, the things we do most often. We go with the trends we’ve set for ourselves throughout our lives.
If we practice living a Christian life of faith on a regular basis, that’s likely to be our default response in a crisis. If we don’t, then it’s not likely to be our default response. That’s what practice is about, regardless of what we’re practicing.
Now, there is a caveat, and probably more than one, to what I just wrote. For those of us that have problems with depression, things like this don’t always work “correctly”. For me, my goal is to learn to turn to Jesus more quickly in some situations – as opposed to right away. I’ve noticed though, at least for me, it’s not that hard to go to Jesus in a true crisis – like when I was diagnosed with cancer and went through treatment. (I’m currently through 9 months of being cancer free, as of this writing.)
It’s the not-so-serious ones that are more likely to get me depressed now. Personal/emotional issues – not physical. But that’s me.
My point is, I don’t know that any of us are ever going to always to immediately to Jesus. We’re still fallen human beings. Maybe we all need to just work on turning to Him more quickly. And we all need more practice.
After all, faith is a process, not a Pop Tart moment.
God wants to comfort us, so that we can comfort others
God wants to comfort us, so that we can comfort others. If we flip to 2 Corinthians, we learn something about that.
The God of All Comfort
2Co 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
2Co 1:8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
Notice especially this part for today’s topic:
2Co 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
When we’re in a real crisis, we don’t necessarily think about the second part. We also don’t necessarily think about the first part right away. Check out this image to see an illustration of that.
We see a man in the desert, welcoming Jesus as He approaches/
But, this guy didn’t turn to Jesus right away. How do we know? Because he’s standing out in the middle of a desert!
It’s not like he’s near the desert, on even right on the edge. He’s out there in the sand with only a couple small cacti near him.
However, he did eventually go to Jesus. Better late than never. But earlier might’ve been even better.
Unless! Yes, unless, God’s plan was for us to be out in the desert. Why would God want something like that? So we could comfort someone else who’s also out in a desert.
Don’t waste your cancer. Use it to help others.
Don’t waste your cancer. Use it to help others. I wish I could take credit for the title. I borrowed it from a short booklet called Don’t waste your cancer, by John Piper. It’s true for more than “just” cancer, not that cancer is a small thing. Rather, my point is that even the way we deal with small problems can help others.
Of course, it’s also possible that this guy’s out in the desert because of something he did – such as not listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
Or maybe he didn’t know God at all, and it took something this drastic to get him to turn to God in the first place.
Or, he could be someone like me. Someone who knew God, ran away, and this is God’s way of bringing me back, ’cause I was too stubborn to listen to the more gentle messages.
We just don’t know the story sometimes. Not even for ourselves. Not right away. Maybe not later. Maybe even never. But the key thing is, if we love God. He will try to get us back. And if we don’t know God, He’ll still try to get our attention.
Conclusion – Do you ever practice living a Christian life of faith?
So what’s the bottom line after all this? Living a Christian life isn’t easy.
But wait – didn’t Jesus say it was?
Rest for the Weary
11:25-27 pp — Lk 10:21, 22
Mt 11:25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
Mt 11:27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
Mt 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
There it is – For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
But then, Jesus also said, for those who do try to follow Him:
Do Not Worry – Matthew
6:25-33 pp — Lk 12:22-31
Mt 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Mt 6:28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Notice – Each day has enough trouble of its own.
When we put these two together, here’s what we get:
Life will have plenty of troubles, but don’t worry.
However, it gets worse:
The Beatitudes – Matthew
5:3-12 pp — Lk 6:20-23
Mt 5:1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying:
Mt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mt 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Mt 5:5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Mt 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Mt 5:7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Mt 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Mt 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Mt 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mt 5:11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The Beatitudes are sometimes referred to as Jesus’ manifesto. As such, they are His game plan for us. Our map of how to follow Him. And when we do that, check out what Jesus said will happen and how we should respond:
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Talk about a scenario where living a Christian life means we need to turn to Him as quickly as possible!
The problem of “handing it over to God”
What does “handing it over to God” even mean, and how do we do it? It’s something Christians often say. But what do we think will happen when we say it? What do we do after we say it? An even harder question is – what about the outcome? How do we deal with the outcome after God “takes it from us”?
Jesus tells us we’ll have troubles, but don’t worry. But we do worry, because we’re fallen people. We must turn to Him, believe Him, trust Him, as our only hope of not worrying. Or, at least of not worrying as much.
But then Jesus goes on to tell us that He’s the reason we’re going to have even more problems than non-believers. And those additional problems are because of wait – none other than Jesus Himself!
How hard is it to turn to the reason for our problems as the only hope for surviving those problems?
It’s not easy. It’s against our own strong-willed nature to give up our will and follow someone else’s. And yet, the only way to save our souls is to do exactly that.
It’s only love, faith, and trust in the One who created us and who knows what’s best for us that can allow us to do that.
How?
Each of us needs to find our own way(s) to talk with God. Talk to Him. Listen for Hm.
No, that’s not me in the image.
And no, it’s not my dog, although Mikey, my current 4-legged companion is a Maltipoo (probably) and looks something like this.
But it is one of my favorite ways to just relax, get away from other things, and spend time with God.
Maybe that’s not for you. Maybe it is.
But please – find a way to both talk to and listen to God. Then, we’re on our way to getting better at living the Christian life more completely. With lots of practice – in terms of both practicing (as in trying to learn how to do it, like a doctor learns medicine in college) and in terms of practicing (as in doing it, like a doctor practices medicine after getting a license).
Images from Microsoft Designer with DALL-E 3, generated via MS Copilot from my requests
Footnotes
- 1
Willard, Dallas. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (p. 4). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. - 2Willard, Dallas. The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (pp. 4-5). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.