As a church, we are reading Spiritual Disciplines by Donald Whitney over the summer and discussing it in our small groups. This past week, my group read and discussed the discipline of Bible intake. Some of the main takeaways for me so far in this book are...
- The goal of spiritual disciplines is godliness. They are not the goal(s) themselves
- Spiritual disciplines are a means of grace from the Lord in the pursuit of godliness; they are not a legalistic, ritualistic duty but a means of grace AKA a delight!
- Spiritual discipline leads to freedom, kind of like running and training for a long distance run gives you the freedom to pick up and run 6 miles whenever you want to.
- In your time in the Word, pick one verse or one idea to memorize and meditate on throughout the day, driving you to prayer regarding it as well as to sharing it with those around you that day.
So, in the excitement of putting these things to practice in my life, I want to share the one takeaway from my time in the Word this morning.
Malachi 1:11a & 12a
"For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations...But you are profaning it."
I want to be part of God making His name great among the nations! But how am I profaning it on a daily basis through my attitudes, words, actions, work ethic, time management, etc? What am I communicating to those around me about Christ? If He truly is the most valuable thing to me, why aren't I always talking about Him? Why doesn't my life match His?
Kind of along similar lines is another verse that stuck out to me: "For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and men should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is a messenger of the Lord" (Mal 2:7). Peter talks about us all being priests because of and in Christ. How are my lips guarding or preserving the knowledge of the Lord? How am I being the Lord's messenger? How am I going to be today? May God use me as an instrument and a voice of His instruction that others may seek.
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