Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying, “I wish to preach not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife, to preach the highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, hardships, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.”
Jesus never offered a life of ease to would-be followers. He spoke of birds who have nests and foxes who retreat to holes, while He Himself had nowhere to lay His head. Those who followed Him had to get used to having a rock for a pillow.
Part of spiritual growth through discipline comes from weaving good habits into the fabric of our daily living. Paul said, “I keep under my body and bring it into subjection.” He explained that it was mental, spiritual, and physical discipline that he subjected himself to, “lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (I Cor. 9:27) The great 18th-century evangelist, George Whitefield, once queried: “Why are men so great, some do ask…Well, the heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight; but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upwards in the night.” (Whitefield retired at 10:00 p.m. and arose at 4:00 a.m.)
Discipline from God—and for God—can be lifesaving. As the Scottish preacher and author William Barclay said, “We shall cease from self-pity, from resentment and from rebellious complaint, if we remember that there is no discipline of God which does not take its source in love, and which is not aimed at our good.”
Christianity Today once recounted this story: “Lord Joseph Duveen, American head of the art firm that bore his name, planned in 1915 to send one of his experts to England to examine some ancient pottery. He booked passage on the Lusitania. Then the German Embassy issued a warning that the liner might be torpedoed. Duveen wanted to call off the trip. ‘I can’t take the risk of your being killed,’ he said to his young expert. ‘Don’t worry,’ said the man, ‘I’m a strong swimmer, and when I read what was happening in the Atlantic, I began hardening myself by spending time every day in a tub of ice water. At first I could only sit a few minutes, but this morning I stayed in that tub nearly two hours.’ Naturally, Duveen laughed. It sounded preposterous. But his expert sailed; the Lusitania was torpedoed. The young man was rescued after nearly five hours in the chilly ocean, still in excellent condition.” (CT, February 1979)
What are you willing to do this year to harden yourself for the cause of Christ? When I think of the people around the globe who are suffering persecution, who are homeless because of wars—some trying to exist in third-world countries where ruthless authoritarians make it difficult not only to exercise one’s faith but to simply survive day to day—I am in fact ashamed to think of American Christianity. How flabby and faithless we have become! How lazy and lifeless spiritually! How indifferent and indolent in spiritual matters.
Is there a spiritual discipline that you could cultivate for Christ this year? Reading His word daily? Attending the services of your local church regularly? Praying intentionally and intensely?
Bad habits, educator Horace Mann said, are like a cable: We weave a thread of it, every day, and at last we cannot break it. Or, as another said, “The chains of habit are too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.” (Charles Swindoll, Killing Giants, Pulling Thorns, pp. 66,69)
If that is true with bad habits, could it not also be true of that which is good that we cull and cultivate for the improvement of our work and witness for Jesus? Do not pray, “Lord, let me off easy.” Pray instead, “Lord, make me as big as my task.”
Strive this year to realize by faith the truth of His promise: “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” (Deut. 33:25) And, wherever the journey will take you, whatever the chasm you must cross, His grace will be sufficient for you—to His glory, in the Church, by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen!
“According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death.” (Phil.1:20)
YOU and GOD 