“Then Jesus said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’” (Luke 9:23 NKJV)
Making the conscious effort to do something intentional and beneficial with a relationship is always our opportunity, irrespective of how we feel… And that includes committing ourselves to the discipline of daily time and attention regarding our relationship with God. What better way to grow spiritually than through the generous love of deliberate action?
Conscious effort is the first and biggest step toward the “becoming” part of spiritual formation -- the decision and the discipline of it -- the element that lost its way so easily when all we had to fall back on was our desire.
In our men’s group someone pointed out the infrequent occurrence of the miraculous in most of our day-to-day lives. “It’s not that we are looking for something spectacular in particular,” he said. “But things just happen around people of great faith who choose to believe.”
He is exactly right. Saying “I choose You, Jesus; it is my intention and my goal to follow more deliberately in Your way” can open the door to the most amazing things.
-- Adapted from “Get Real: A Spiritual Journey for Men” by Derek Maul
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