“But as for you… pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:11-12 NRSV)
A few years ago we started a praise band at church. In that context commitment took over where my desire has always tended to fall short. Simply put, I placed myself and my Ovation [guitar] in a position of discipline and encouragement, and my ability to play has grown accordingly.
It turns out my faith is a lot like that.
Being a disciple of Jesus is much like playing guitar in the band. While desire may be the spark that ignites the fire, my spiritual journey flames out with relative ease – all too readily and distressingly quickly. My love for God can also find its way into the closet, and there it gathers dust; God does not force His presence on me any more than my neglected instrument will leap into my hands to say, “Let’s play.”
There’s a lot to be said for showing up to play music with the band every week, for picking up my guitar every day, and for running through even the simplest songs of praise. In the middle of such routine acts of devotion, I often find that God’s love sneaks up on me unawares.
It’s that “long obedience in the same direction” idea.
-- Derek Maul in “Get Real: A Spiritual Journey for Men”
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