https://odb.org/2024/10/15/the-disciplined-life
If you’ve been to a gym before, you will know that one can go there for cardiovascular exercises. In other words, the gym is not only about doing weights to build muscles. For me, I go there to just walk and run and maybe do a few rounds of simple weights. More to strengthen than to build. The rule of exercise, however, is that we need to put in a minimal amount of time. We can not go and run for 5 mins and then go home. Whether we brisk walk, slow jog, or sprint, it’s up to our fitness level, but we need to put in at least 20 mins of effort. The good thing is that if we are on the treadmill or other machines, they have a calorie count, and thus, we can set targets like 200 or 300 cal. But fundamental to exercise is the need for discipline. For exercise to be effective, we need to do it regularly, like perhaps 4 to 5 days a week, rather than 4 to 5 days a month. There is always a start, and we can keep things slow at first, but we need to keep at it.
The use of the imagery of athletes by Paul in 1 Corinthians 9 to describe our spiritual walk was apt as Corinth hosted the Isthmian games on the years before and even after the ancient Olympic games. Thus, the early Christians could relate to the imagery the same way we could in modern times. We need discipline to maintain self-control. We need discipline to keep a regular quiet time. We should pray every day and not only when in church or occasionally. In other words, in the “busyness” of our daily routine, we need to allocate time for worship, prayer, and reading of the Word. Basically, to inoculate basic spiritual tasks that require discipline for regularity. If we do not have discipline, we may do all these once or twice a month when we should be doing it every day.
As this week progresses, besides all the things we need to do in college or at work or at home, be disciplined and set up a time for God and keep at it on a regular basis. Like an athlete, keep at it until the very end! Make it our routine until our dying day! Amen!
Ronnie's Thoughts 