Discipline and Community

Tuesday 2/10/2015 4:19 AM

Over the past couple of years I feel as if my relationship with God has diminished in its vitality. As I was considering the cause of this a few weeks ago I realized that I have not been having regular devotions and my discipline of daily exercise in the form of running has also fallen by the wayside. A little over a week ago I asked my small group to hold me accountable to have regular devotions and a regular time of exercise. Of course the first week that I made the commitment I got sick and was unable to run for a few days. However, I have had my devotional time each day.

"Be Still" is my devotional theme for the week and this morning, as I meditated on the assigned scripture, the Holy Spirit brought Proverbs 1:7 to my mind, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” I immediately realized that I have lacked discipline in my devotional time during the last couple of years. I had time alone with God when it was convenient or when I felt like it, but not on a regular, daily basis.

Today I read two excerpts in my readings that address this issue. The first was from How to Conduct a Spiritual Life Retreat, by Norman Shawchuck, Rueben P. Job, and Robert G. Doherty. They write, “Solitude and silence are the essential conditions that favor deep retrieval for personal integration of all facets of the human-divine relationship. A supportive, praying community is the preferable context out of which we enter into the desert of solitude. The boundaries surrounding one’s desert of solitude are the love of an intimate community.” I need to have that time alone with God each day if I am to cultivate the integration of my faith and my relationship with God into my daily life. Having the support of my small group praying for me and encouraging me is essential.

The second reading was from Selections from the Writings of William Temple. He writes, “The first thing – the beginning of the inner life under the control of the Holy Spirit by the perpetual discipline which brings us back, day by day, to the remembrance and companionship of Jesus Christ. Upon that everything else depends, for if the inward life is not sound you cannot do much with the other.” If I expect to be under the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit in my life I need to maintain a close relationship with God, through Christ. That, like a healthy marriage relationship, requires constant communication and attention.

The closing prayer of my devotional material seems especially fitting for me this week. “Holy God, I want to be still, experiencing and growing in your love so that I might shine on others with the light of love.”