Have we been less than discerning in our life? Have we lost our confidence to overcome life’s struggles? Have we forgotten to count our days and to make use of them wisely? Psalm 90:10...12 puts it simply and elegantly this way, “The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty if we are strong; even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away…So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.” A few things are clear in this illuminating passage. First, life is not long. Second, living is not smooth. And finally, we need to make everyday count by counting them, day by day. There is surely something important about counting our days. It seems to be the stepping stones to a wise heart, or a discerning and mature one. But I believe it is more than just counting that the Psalmist is advising us to do. I think is all about attention, or more precisely, paying attention to everyday that comes knocking our way.
Many people think that a day starts with the morning and ends with the night. But I think differently. Quite counter-intuitively, I think a day doesn’t start for us until we are ready for it. So, until we are ready to make each day counts, a day is as irrelevant to us as the moons that are orbiting Jupiter. Many of us let each day passes without knowing it. The hours are meaningless to us because we have nothing meaningful to fill them with. For those who live such a life, a day is as long as a lifetime. And a lifetime is usually wasted away on nothing more than work, duty and obligations.
Surely, there must be a higher calling for Christians like us. Are we purpose-driven? Or are we worldly-driven? Are we walking by faith? Or are we walking by sight? Are we living an examined life? Or are we drifting along, sleepwalking through the hours, the days and the lost years? On this, the above Psalmist’s advice is a wake up call. Going back to basics, we are encouraged to pay attention to every day and to seize the moment by making each moment counts. We can do this by investing more in our spiritual life through taking these 8 important steps.
1) We need to take the first step by asking: What defines us? In other words, we need to ask, what kind of Christian do we want to be? Or what spiritual legacy do we want our children to inherit from our life? This requires some soul searching. Some of us who are serious with our faith may want to take a day or two to sort this out. Unless we take the time to answer this question in our own personal and unique way, we will always be living below the level of our God-given potential.
2) Co-partnering with God. We need to come to a place to acknowledge that growing “spiritually” without God is no different from growing individually. Without God, our spiritual walk is a pharisaical one. It is legalistic. It is self-glorifying. It is inauthentic. For some of us, we have to re-invite God into our lives. To do this, we need to surrender our independence and our freedom. We need to let God take charge and submit to His leading. This is of course difficult for some who have been so busy climbing up the career or social ladder. That is why we need to count the days to slow it down. We need to pace ourselves and slowly but surely let God’s ministering spirit guide our lives. Sometimes, we have to take that spiritual risk to give up what we now think is important and invest wholeheartedly on what the Bible says is important. For we know that if we take this spiritual risk to invest in this journey of faith with God, all of life’s care and worries will be well taken care of.
3) Dealing with our duplicity. Jesus had made it clear that one cannot serve two masters. It is either this fallen world or the promised world to come. It is either the pleasures of this world or the imminent joy of eternity. We have to make the choice and stick with it at all costs. Nothing is more damaging to our spiritual growth than to profess our allegiance to God and then go out and live our lives to betray that allegiance. Let us live a life that is pleasing to God by making sure that our word matches with our actions. For there is only one “duplicity” that is allowed in Christendom, and it is in these words of Martin Luther, “A Christian is a perfectly free Lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”
4) Stop making excuses. I think that the finger ultimately points back at us. We need to take personal responsibility for our decisions and our actions. If we are resolute on making that all-important change, we need to turn the searchlights on ourselves. Blaming our circumstances, our genes, and our lot in life are not going to lead us anywhere close to authentic personal transformation. Let’s do a thorough spiritual spring cleaning on ourselves before we become witnesses or ambassadors of Christ
5) Become ruthless with sins. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is also where we become serious with our Christian walk. I believe that one of the greatest obstacles to living a life of victory is to be burdened by a sin-stricken conscience. Sin compromises our effectiveness as a Christian. It drowns out the guiding voice of the Holy Spirit. It also makes light the sufferings of Jesus at the Cross. So, let’s be radical and ruthless with sins lest we become enslaved by it, held under its sway and subjected to its appetites. Isaiah 57:20 warns us, “The wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters toss up mire and dirt.”
6) Feed our Spirit. To state the obvious, natural food nourishes us just as spiritual food strengthens us. Spiritual food or discipline comes in many helpings. Reading the Bible with understanding, praying with faith and evangelizing with love are but some examples. We need to cultivate a divine appetite for spiritual food. The key to do this is to renounce the appetites of the flesh through meditation, fasting and prayer. By starving the flesh of lusts, pride and greed, denouncing such cravings, we develop a thirst for all things spiritual. To sustain this divine thirst, we need to experience God. We need to open our hearts to a life of relationship and intimacy with Him. In the end, the reward of spiritual disciplines is worth our daily consistent efforts because as Richard Foster puts it, the celebration of discipline leads us to the path of spiritual growth and true personal liberation from the temptations of this world.
7) Lastly, never grow alone. There is a simple reason for this: even the gift of redemption is a joint effort. The fullness of the Trinity is clearly at work here. God the Father gave up his only son. Jesus completed the work at the cross. And the Holy Spirit empowers us to live a holy life. If the gift of redemption is a joint effort, what’s more our spiritual growth. We should always encourage one another to grow spiritually. We should find a good and sound church so that we can praise and worship in one concerted voice. We should join hands together in the various church ministries to bring the gospel to the lost. We should never despise the gatherings of God’s people because there is power in corporate prayer, strength in numbers (if one can put one thousand to flight, two can put ten thousands to flight), and hope in the victorious testimonies of the saints.
Personally, our cell group is going to turn 8 this June. I believe the collective prayers, joint experiences and mutual encouragement have through the years deepened our spiritual life. It has also enriched our relationship with one another and sustained our hope in times of trials. This bond will remain strong as long as we all remain as one. For Ephesians 4:3 says, “(We) are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way.”
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