A disciplined life requires many activities that are hard, even painful. Getting in bed early is hard. Getting up early is harder. Budgeting is hard. Paying for and cooking healthy, nutritious food is hard. Running is hard. Yoga is hard. Lifting weights is hard. Choosing to drink water in the place of sugar, caffeinated beverages is really hard. However; budgeting, sleeping enough, eating well, and exercising are very important. I believe we glorify God when we work to be good stewards with what he has entrusted us - be it time, finances, or our very bodies.
In contrast, some activities that are exceptionally easy can save us time, money, and pain. I hate to floss. For the majority of my life, I just haven't. I forget, I feel like it's an inconvenience, I run out and just can't remember to buy more, it's really not that big of a deal...my justification of not flossing could go for days.
Like a lot of important lessons, I learned the necessity of flossing the hard way. Little did I know, my teeth have always been pushed too far together- creating the perfect environment for sugar, food, acidic drinks, and bacteria to rendezvous in the warm, dark space. Several fillings, hours of pain and misery in a dentist chair, root canals, multiple crowns (which costs the same as a 1997 Toyota Camry, by the way) later, it finally hit me. Flossing matters.
And tonight, while flossing, I realized that for much of my life, I have treated spiritual discipline the same way. It's easy to overlook the importance of prayer, scripture reading, and scripture memorization. When I don't floss, my teeth feel fine. I went years without realizing there were major issues. Little tiny particles, left over time, eventually caused serious damage to my teeth. To me, the amount of soda that can fit between molars is not a big deal. It cannot be more than half a drop! But it becomes a big deal when it is ignored.
Sin is the same way. As a young adult, it's really easy for 'small' things to go unnoticed or un-rebuked....foul language, crude humor, lack of time management leading to bad stewardship of time, financial irresponsibility, watching or listening to things that really aren't beneficial for any reason except entertainment...
Without the small, (seemingly insignificant) action of setting aside time to meet with God and seek his guidance, those 'little things' can end up taking over and doing a lot of damage. There have been so many times when I look back on my week, month, at times, even my year and think, "Who is that person? That is not who I want to be! How did I get here?!" When I take a look at my habits, I realize that the lack of spiritual discipline left me blind to 'little' things that were in reality truly harmful.
I started flossing about 8 months ago and just went back to the dentist. For the first time in a LONG time, I had no cavities. My gums don't bleed anymore. My gingivitis, which had been bad, is gone. I got a clean bill of health from my dentist. WHAT. It is crazy how something that isn't even hard can make such a difference.
That could not be more true of spiritual discipline either. It's not hard to read the Bible. There's nothing inherently difficult about sitting still and quiet for a few minutes to quiet your heart to talk to Jesus. And it may seem, like flossing, that at first it feels the same. But one day you will look up and see the difference. It's impossible to be memorizing God's word and remain the same! It's impossible to spend your morning in prayer for your coworkers, family, friends, and not have your heart begin to soften. One day you look up and there's compassion where apathy was before. There's an extra measure of patience. An extra bit of grace for your coworker that's really hard to get along with. Extra joy when things are tough.
Spiritual discipline doesn't earn you an easy life. When that is your goal, you have missed the point. It's not about being good enough or being more disciplined than the next guy, but pursuing heart change. It's about saying to Jesus, "Here is EVERYTHING I have - my family, job, finances, hobbies, gifts, time, desires, dreams, my possessions- what do you want me to keep? What do you want me to give? Am I where you want me? Am I ignoring or missing what you are calling me to because it seems too hard? This is ALL YOURS. My desire is to use every bit of it to bring you glory every second you allow me to be on earth." When I start asking those questions, everything changes. My priority shifts from myself to others. My days are different and soon, my life looks different. When I dedicate time to pursuing what the Lord wants, I am making myself available to him to use me to do amazing things. Which is what I long for!
Never ever make my mistake. Don't underestimate the importance of spiritual discipline. It's not hard and I promise you - it will change your life.
