When You Don’t Want To

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. ⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. ⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form   – Colossians 2:6-9

It has been a struggle to practice spiritual discipline lately. I haven’t fully engaged my Bible in too long and my prayer life wanes. No matter how long I have followed Christ, these things don’t seem to get any easier. There is something both familiar and foreign in these spiritual exercises. Why are our souls so ready to abandon any soul work? It is as if part of me is still a young child, fighting for a way out of any discipline.

The Christian life is a grind. It is never easy and life will always overflow with possible distractions. In times like these, it is helpful to remember who your anchor is. Our roots run deep within our saved history and these will never fade away. We are forever bonded to our savior, regardless of our daily devotion. Of course this is counterintuitive and even a little scandalous, but this is grace.

This does not mean we simply shrug it off. No, we look to engage our faith through every avenue and habit. This simply means that our being is his, regardless of passion or perfection. As we go through seasons of faith, we come to expect peaks and valleys. In these times, remember the payoff from a life lived for Christ. Those times you didn’t want to study, but did so anyway and found grace. Those times you didn’t feel like praying, yet His Spirit awakened something within you after the initial struggle. He is faithful when we are humble. He is faithful when we take feeble steps towards Him. You are forever learning to walk.

Today, fight on. Follow Him in passionate diligence and not desired perfection. Remember your history. Remember His story.