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.”
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