DISCIPLINE

I was staying with some college guys at the University of Arkansas (Wooo Pig Sooie!) a few weeks ago and I had the wonderful privilege of getting to sit in on their house bible study one morning.  These guys have an incredible set up by the way, living with some of their best friends and challenging/holding each other accountable...it was refreshing to see.

Anyway, like I said, I got to sit in on their bible study one morning and they all went around talking about what was going on in life, praises, what they needed prayer for, etc.  The topic they were looking at was perseverance.  Great idea to study from scripture btw.  As we started talking about perseverance, persevering for the Lord, persevering towards Godly things, etc. a few ideas started to emerge.

First, we all had to admit that things were not going perfectly and we weren't "persevering" as we would ultimately hope to.  In each of our lives we found things that simply come between us and the Lord sometimes.  Things like school, girlfriends, work, being too involved in 9million different groups and activities, not getting enough sleep, etc.  All of those things are important on some level, and some of them are VERY important to us (the groups we're in and the relationships we have).  One thing we all agreed on was that we could all use some more DISCIPLINE when it comes to Christ.  Even through all of the difficult things around us, being more disciplined to make time for the Lord seemed to be something we all needed.

This is what I realized:
The situation never changes from day one!  From the day you were born, there were things going on that seemed like monumental, life-changing obstacles and difficulties to overcome; things that demand your attention and are great excuses for not doing the things you "ought" to or "really want" to be doing.

As an infant, your whole world changes when you feel hungry or need to poop, and you cry about it.  When you're a small fry, you freak out over losing a G.I. Joe or a Barbie doll.  As you get a little older, things like girls, boys, sports, and friends start to wreck your world and dominate your feelings and actions.

The deal is, no matter what stage of life you're in, there WILL be things that feel so important that they become the most important thing; but we have got to stop letting our circumstances and situations dictate who we are and what we do.  Even growing older I've got to be careful not to let something as important as my wife and my family become the most important thing.  At the end of the day, we can't forget that there is only really one thing that should dominate our lives:  Jesus Christ and our relationship with him.  That doesn't mean that those other things are unimportant.  Obviously, my wife and my relationship with her is crazy important.  But I always have to remember that even my relationship with Kelly is second, second only to my relationship with Jesus.

Check out my boy Job as an example.  Read the whole book.  The guy wasn't perfect, but even in the loss of everything he had, Job remembered that the most important thing, the thing that was above all others (even all of these horrible worldly afflictions) was his Lord.  What an incredible example for us.

So if you want DISCIPLINE in your walk with the Lord, you don't need to learn something special to get it.  God's given you what you need to be obedient in each moment.  I think most of the time, if we're honest, we're just making excuses and letting other things become more important.

Now how many of you thought I was going to talk about whether to spank your kids when you're raising them?