Discipline + Joy

SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 12:11 MSG At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off big-time, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

THOUGHT: Fred and I are watching an excellent crowd-funded movie series called “The Chosen.” (https://watch.angelstudios.com/thechosen — watch for free.) The actor who portrays Jesus offers a fascinating study in watching a disciplined, yet joyful life. He works hard, prays earnestly and often, teaches with words and actions, then blesses God again and sleeps. He never misses an opportunity to laugh it seems – and he dances too. The Jesus the writers have fleshed-out is a disciplined man, enjoying the fruit of a mature relationship with God, and it flows around him and into the lives of those he touches. He is free.

Writing about a disciplined life is really not my strong suit. I may wish I were a trained athlete, or monkish in my ability to fast or pray the hours, but mostly I just trip and fall, literally and metaphorically. What I’ve learned is that even little disciplines, like always being honest, speaking truth with kindness, or even writing like this each morning have a big payoff. These practices train me, like running, to endure “going against the grain.” To trade having fun or a little extra sleep for a maturing of faith, a “harvest of righteousness and peace,” as the NIV puts it.

PRAYER: In your kindness, Lord, you make much of my little, and I am grateful. Help me embrace your discipline as kindness, to take a long view: for the joy set before me, to endure.