Much is being said these days about disciplines. One likely cause of these discussions is the regrettable lack of disciplined living. With all of the personal conveniences we enjoy and the increase of leisure time the necessity of thoughtful discipline only grows more necessary. It is interesting that leisure time and the use of it comes up in the matter of prophecy. One of the great sins of Sodom was its use of leisure time.
Ezekiel 16:49 "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."
Yesterday Pastor Weber took us through a study of the disciplines that were practiced in the early church. These disciplines must not be overlooked. Like a balanced diet of good foods, these disciplines are necessary for spiritual vitality. These disciplines were revealed in Acts chapter two:
Acts 2:42 "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."
There the disciplines are:1) doctrine, that requires study of the Word,
2) fellowship, that is spending time with God’s people,
3) breaking of bread, I believe that indicates fellowship with the saints in the house of God and understanding Christ’s work on the cross and finally,
4) prayer, that is thoughtful communication with God.
Most stumbling of God’s people can be traced back to a lack of these disciplines. We can get lost in attempting to understand why they fail to live in these disciplines when in the last analysis it is usually just laziness and carelessness.
I am kind of entertained by the numbers of companies that are selling weight-loss schemes these days. In the end they all come down to nutritious foods and exercise. There is no “silver bullet”. Discipline is the key, and it is the same with godly living.
