Ordering your private world.

Leo Tolstoy says “everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself.”

How do we change? Is it even possible for us to change ourselves? Apostle Paul speaks in his letter to Romans on the issue of attaining righteousness, or becoming changed for better, and all thirty five statements assert that it is a gift from God. Quoting Paul “We receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness in life by one, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17)

If the transformation we seek is God’s gift, can we do anything? Some fall into thinking that we do nothing.. But same apostle suggests that we should do certain things. In letter to Galatians (6:8) Paul says “he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Think of this analogy: farmer does not grow seeds. He plants, cultivates, nurtures, makes some conditions to assist growth, but growth is outside of his competency. God gives growth.

We are invited to sow to the Spirit. How do we do it? Godly people place themselves where God can grow us. This is what the Spiritual Disciplines are all about – placing self into an environment or situations where we become more aware of our need of change.

As we discover God through different revelations – Creator, Savior, Sustainer – we relate to God from our experience. Yet, it would be a heresy to cling to a single Revelation of God and to ignore the Trinitarian concept of God’s Plan of Salvation, by which God is our Father in Creation, God the Son is our Savior and brother in infirmities, and God the Holy Spirit is within us guiding our spirits to change. It also would be a heresy to pick and chose spiritual disciplines, focusing on some and ignoring others, as it would lead to an imbalanced life.

Before ministering, and worshipping – self must be ordered. Before we serve humanity as Christ our Lord taught us and before we come corporately in celebration of being guided by the Spirit, we need to know our Father, our Creator. We need to order our lives and align ourselves with God’s design for our lives. Inner Disciplines set us up to seek our Creator.

There are four basic disciplines that make people “God chasers” – fasting, meditation, prayer, and study. These inner disciplines are to alight our soul, heart, spirit and mind with God. We are familiar with the last two – prayer and study. What about the first two – fasting and meditation? These are the most common practices described in the Bible. Isaac meditated (Genesis 24:63). The Lord spoke to Joshua to meditate on the Law of God day and night. (Joshua 1:8) Psalmist David affirms such meditative life (Psalm 1:2). Fasting was practiced by every believer to break away from dependencies in life, and to seek God as only source of life. The Lawgiver Moses – fasted. King David fasted. Prophet Elijah, Queen Esther, prophet Daniel, apostle Paul - all fasted.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate – fasted, and told us “when you fast….” Note that he did not say “if,” but “when,” implying in his Sermon on the Mount that we would fast. (Matthew 6:16-18). Jesus also told his followers that they should fast while He is gone, until His return (Matthew 9:15)

Disciplines are interdependent. Prayer and Study are not adequate without Fasting and Meditation. So, what are you “sowing”? How much do you desire to be changed by god’s Grace? What are you willing to do about it?