The Pilgrim Path---First Corinthians 9: 27

But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I should be disqualified.

BUT I DISCIPLINE…

There would be many a day when my “SELF” would say, “I do not want to do much of anything.” You may well have a nagging battle with seasonal allergies, or a new bout with arthritis. You many have had some re-structuring at work and been saddled with a considerable mix of new responsibilities. It could be the sheer monotony of it all. The day-in-day-out labors of life: all those dishes! Where did all that laundry come from? Another meeting? Well, there are many of these days in life. And on the oft interrupted “change”---it seems a hardship has arrived---you would rather have not faced. “Ugh,” I sometimes say (you may have said something like this yourself at times). Here is a cry that is more beneficial, “Please help me get my bearings again LORD.” This is where Holy Scripture is lifesaving. It reminds me that life is not about my “latest feeling or whim.” I just recently went “back” through First Corinthians chapter 9. Here the Apostle Paul talks about giving up some of his rights---so that others will come to understand that God’s saving mercy in Jesus Christ is a real GIFT. Paul reveals that he is a servant for “the sake” of the Gospel of Jesus the LORD. He even takes on the preferences of “others” (that were not his own) to benefit their souls. He tells us at the end of this significant chapter that as a follower of Jesus Christ this requires discipline. He found he must exercise self-control in all things. Imagine that--- in terms of spiritual devotion to the Master. This is a real “bowing” to the Savior in all concerns of life. This tells us a whole lot about the commitment of the Apostle Paul. Meditate on that for a while. Servants give up their “rights” for the will of their Master. This will sort matters a bit. It brings life, and hope, and peace in the Savior.

From St. Basil of Caesarea: Let’s not lie around in bed all day. We have hopes of future glory: let’s not barter them for a life of ease that doesn’t even last very long! Unless, that is, we’ve set our sights on undergoing condemnation and punishment! And I’m not referring to any punishments that might exist here on earth, although anyone in his right mind will steer clear of these too. I’m referring to the punishments of hell, whether hell might be situated under the earth, or somewhere else in God’s universe. If someone cannot live up to his duty through weakness, I suppose God might grant him some scrap of mercy. But someone who has quite intentionally set himself on the sinful path in life---well, there’s not going to be any defense to save him from undergoing punishment over and again. What shall we do, then? This---devote ourselves to cultivating our inner life, wasting our time on nothing besides! We must not be chained up in slavery by our bodies; we should satisfy bodily needs only where it is absolutely needful. But we ought to pour into our minds all the finest things! The whole point of studying wisdom is to free our minds form entanglement in bodily passions, which are just like a jailhouse…

From Thomas Brooks: The best servants do not set their minds upon their blessings more than their responsibilities, and the best Christians do not set their comforts and incomes as more important than the honor and duty they owe to their God. But note, the best way to joy, peace, and assurance is to set your minds on your responsibilities. Ah! Had many mourning, complaining Christians done this, their mourning would have been turned into rejoicing, and their complaining into singing. The highway to comfort is to seek comfort less, and duty more. Set your mind on what you should do more than on what you would like to have. While faith is trusting in Christ, the LORD comes, and by his Spirit seals up life, love, and glory to us.

From J. I. Packer: As some athletes were, as we say, born to run, so all who are born again are called to run, in the sense of putting all their energy into steady godliness as their life strategy. Keeping up the winning rhythm in the Christian life, as in the Boston Marathon, is constantly demanding and sometimes agonizing. But the very meaning of perseverance and patient endurance is that you do it anyway because you are God’s child running on what, in the profoundest sense, is for you the home stretch. This sustained inward effort, raised to the limit of what you can do with the brains, gifts, and energy God has given you, is one central aspect of Christian holiness, one without which a person’s supposed holiness would degenerate into self-indulgent softness. But true holiness is neither self-indulgent nor soft. It is tough. It is virile. It has backbone and guts, and a face set like a flint. It is fueled by a heart of joy as the winning post appears ahead. Real Jesus-likeness means this---nothing less---and real holiness means real Jesus-likeness.

HYMN

Take, my soul, thy full salvation, rise over sin and fear and care;

Joy to find in every station something still to do or bear;

Think what Spirit dwells within thee, what a Father’s smile is thine,

What a Savior died to win thee: child of heaven, shouldst thou repine?

Hasten on from grace to glory, armed by faith and winged by prayer;

Heaven’s eternal day’s before thee, God’s own hand shall guide thee there.

Soon shall close thy earthly mission, swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;

Hope shall change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

Henry F. Lyte, 1824, 1833 / Alt. 1990

Grace and Peace in Jesus, the Only Redeemer of broken and wretched souls, Pastor Jason