We're talking about discipline. It's the 3rd of six traits listed in Donald Sweeting's article about Finishing Well. The first was Christ-centered, the second was focused, and now we arrive at the third trait, disciplined.
You can kind of see how discipline might be an issue for some people who have recently retired (like me). I mean, all of the sudden you have time on your hands! How will you use it? Piper famously said to young people, "Don't waste your life," but time-wasting and life-wasting are keenly felt issues for many retired people.
When Christians talk about discipline they're inevitably talking about spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible reading, etc. As for these things, I'm not a great "prayer-warrior" type, but I'm trying to pray every day. I'm also journaling through the Gospel of Mark (something I talk about briefly here and again here).
For spiritual disciplines, that's the tale of the tape. that's what I'm doing. I hope that it helps keep me a little more Jesus-centered, and a little more focused. Jesus knew the Scriptures well and he often stole away to pray. In delivering his all-important message he was focused and, yes, disciplined.
One thing I want to emphasize though is that there is no necessary bright line between so-called spiritual disciplines and other kinds of discipline. It is difficult to be disciplined about spiritual things but undisciplined (careless, heedless) about the rest of your life. This is why we teach children to make their beds, to be diligent about getting their homework done each day, and to hang in there against the inside pitches. Discipline is a spectrum, and these "little things" lay the foundation for greater things, greater kinds of discipline that they will need as they grow.
Me, I have not discovered yet what I will do for the Kingdom in my retirement. How specifically can I put my retirement to work for the Kingdom? And I will not find that answer apart from discipline: discipline in the little things, and discipline in the big things, the spiritual things. All these are disciplines that help me walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
The series so far: Introduction, Christ-Centered, Focused.
No comments:
Post a Comment