These words have been guidelines for my discipleship practices for many years. They have stood the test of time and I still use them as guides to keep us on track.
Perspective
Isaiah 55:8,9 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. If we don’t have a Biblical Perspective we are not in alignment with God!
The first of the 10 Commandments is found in Exodus 20:1 “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol.”
God has told us that our natural based thoughts are not the way He thinks. He has also told us not to worship anything but Him. Those who believe in the lie of evolution (which unfortunately includes many Christians), believe that we have evolved and are much smarter today. They reason it was lesser – evolved people who created stone and wood gods to worship and know that God commanded us not to do that. It is very rare for people to do that today.
But, how many people worship “Jesus” but don’t know the Jesus of the Bible? If the “Jesus” someone claims to follow today allows for what the Bible calls sin, isn’t their “Jesus” just another idol?
The first goal of discipleship should be to provide a Biblical Perspective to Everything! In my experience, that can only happen after years of study. The rampant acceptance of sin (and even support of it – Romans 1:32 “they not only do the same, but give hearty approval to those who practice them.”) in our world today should be evidence enough that whatever the world teaches is probably the opposite of God.
Discipline
1 Timothy 4:7,8 “...discipline yourself for the purpose of Godliness for bodily discipline is only of little profit but Godliness is profitable for all things since it holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.”
How much time do you spend walking, running, or in the gym? How much time do you spend in the Spiritual Gym? Your body won’t last for ever but your spirit will! Just because you went to Sunday school as a kid and used to be in a Bible study, doesn’t mean you haven’t become spiritually flabby. Going to a gym once a week won’t do much, neither will going to church once a week.
Jesus commands us to “go and make disciples” (Mathew 28:20). That word is a derivative of Discipline. It means “go and make Disciplined followers of Jesus”. Jesus does not command us (what is so popular today) “go and make believers”. Being a Disciple of Jesus requires Discipline. It is not natural for us to “be disciplined”. One of the reasons we celebrate greatness is because it probably took a lot of Discipline to achieve it. Most people’s natural inclination is laziness. Unfortunately, for many Christians their “Discipline” and “Spiritual Sacrifice” is getting the kids ready for church on Sunday, spending the time there, then taking the kids to a church program on a week night, and maybe participate in a Bible study themselves.
God has structured scripture in such a way that to the degree we pursue Him is the degree to which He reveals Himself. That is because it is a very dynamic relationship with the Holy Spirit – Who resides in each believer as our Teacher. Discipline is like a muscle that needs to be exercised in order to be strong. It takes work and does not come naturally. Be a Disciplined follower of Jesus!
Abraham Lincoln (a very serious Disciple of Jesus) is credited with saying “Discipline is choosing what I want most over what I want now.”
Purpose
Moses wrote the 90th Psalm. In it he speaks of God’s eternality and man’s brevity of life. He concludes with “so teach us to number our days that we may present to you a heart of wisdom.”
Some time back people wore WWJD bracelets. (What Would Jesus Do). He actually told us in His very personal prayer to the Father recorded in John 17. (One of the most significant chapters of the Bible.) In John 17:4 He said “I glorified You on the earth having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.” THAT is what Jesus did do!
A couple chapters before in John 15:8 Jesus said “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” THAT is what He commands us to do!
Jesus calls us to “bear fruit”. It probably requires a paper unto itself because the Bible doesn’t explicitly say what fruit bearing is. Suffice to say that if you spend any time with the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13 you quickly recognize the seed is the Word of God and His intention is that the Word reproduces (via humans) and “bears fruit” – produces more disciples and increases Spiritual Maturity of existing believers – “some 100, some 60, and some 30 fold.”
It is so sad to see Christians buy into the lie of the American Dream that the Purpose of life is to get the best education you can, so you can have the best career you can, so you can have the best life you can, and retire as soon as you can. The only difference between them and a non believer is they believe, and try to “be a good Christian” while pursuing the Dream. Is that what Moses meant by “teach us to number our days that we may present to You a heart of wisdom”?
There is nothing wrong with no longer working for a paycheck if you are able to provide financially for yourself and your family in the future. God created man for Purpose. Ours is to serve Him and love our fellow man. There is no retirement from that.
In school, the most clarifying tool educators use to point to our Purpose for being there is the Final Exam. The Apostle Paul cannot be more clear in pointing to our Purpose by describing the Final Exam each of us will take before the Creator of the Universe: (2 Corinthians 5:10) “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad”.
Now, prove to be His Disciples and go and bear much fruit!
Stay in the Gym!
God Bless!