FBC Family,
Do you know any good lifehacks? Lifehacks are little shortcuts that help make tasks a little easier. Or it’s taking some everyday item and transforming it for a different purpose because it was cheaper, easier, or more resourceful.
My kids like to watch short lifehack videos that make these shortcuts look so easy. I think we have tried one or two of them. And while they may work for keeping your phone cord untangled, or getting pet hair off your clothes, there are no lifehacks for spiritual growth.
We may often think that if we just do this one 7-day reading plan or pay really good attention to this week’s sermon, we have it all figured out. The truth is there’s not really a shortcut to spiritual maturity. The Holy Spirit works on us and chisels us and sometimes it hurts because there’s too much of “us” and not enough of “him” to begin with. This is spiritual formation. You and I are formed in the process. The same way someone doesn’t create a shortcut for learning to be a master at any craft, or exercise. The practice forms the rhythms, muscles, skills, etc. to shape you into a craftsman, artist or athlete.
We need to be purposeful in our walk with Christ as we submit each day to his will and his leading. One way to do this is to “preach the gospel to ourselves”. That’s right, preach it to yourself. You don’t even have to be a good preacher, but remind yourself who you are in Christ. Bring up scripture for the occasion because the scripture is an open door to understanding the heart of the Father. Tell yourself what God has done for you in Christ. Remind yourself of the truth and shed the lies of the enemy. We do this on purpose because there’s no lifehack for spiritual growth.
D.A. Carson puts it this way “People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”
If we are not purposeful in our everyday tasks, we drift toward ourselves and away from God. May your day and your week be purposefully drawing yourself closer to God. No lifehack necessary.
See you tonight and Sunday,
Keith (AP)