Note: Devotional sermon based on last Sunday afternoon's sermon on 1 Timothy 4:8.
In 1 Timothy 4:8 the apostle Paul exhorted, “For bodily exercise
profiteth a little [for a little time]: but godliness is profitable unto all things,
having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”
Here are a dozen or more spiritual disciplines we might
pursue in the New Year:
First: Confess the faith (Romans 10:9; Acts 8:37).
Second: Pursue meaningful churchmanship (1 Corinthians
12:12-14, 20, 27).
Third: Get baptized and join a local visible church (Matthew
28:19-20).
Fourth: Attend and participate in the assemblies of the
saints (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Fifth: Listen to in-person to preaching and teaching (2
Timothy 4:2; Acts 2:42; 1 Peter 2:2; 2 John 12; 3 John 13-14).
Sixth: Keep the Lord’s Day (Exodus 20:8).
Seventh: Partake of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:24; John
14:15).
Eighth: Pursue meaningful Christian fellowship (Acts 2:42).
Ninth: Read and study the Holy Scriptures (Psalm 1:1-2; Romans
15:4; 1 Timothy 4:13).
Tenth: Memorize the Holy Scriptures (Psalm 119:11).
Eleventh: Give to the poor (Matthew 6:1-4).
Twelfth: Cultivate the practices of “closet prayer” and “constant
prayer” (Matthew 6:5-15; 1 Thessalonians 5:17).
Thirteenth: Cultivate the neglected discipline of fasting
(Matthew 6:16-18).
Fourteenth: Practice Hospitality (Romans 12:13; 1 Peter 4:9).
Fifteenth: Visit the sick and needy. (Matthew 25:35-36).
We have no desire to lay on our backs some kind of unbearable
burden. We are not saved by good work, but we have been created in Christ Jesus
for good works (see Ephesians 2:8-10). We refer to the things listed above as disciplines,
because they are part of discipleship and they take effort to make them
our habitual way of life. Just like exercise of the body (and even more) they
richly reward those who will pursue them.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
No comments:
Post a Comment