Discipleship
After being out of law enforcement for nearly a decade, I decided to get back into one of my favourite pastimes, target and competition shooting. As I began my return I noticed that over time my edge seemed to have slipped away somewhere. I came to realize just how valuable and necessary those years of regular training were to the quality of my marksmanship skills.
There are a few basic and fundamental principles that go into becoming a successful marksman: Grip and Stance, Sight Alignment, Controlled Breathing, and Trigger Control. As I began to refocus on these basics I began to notice my skills quickly begin to recover.
It really is no different for us in our walk with Christ. There are some simple basics to our faith that have the ability, if utilized, to help us sharpen and hone the practice of our faith. I like to call them the A, B, C's of faith:
The prayer life of a disciple of Jesus Christ is the lifeline that maintains our intimacy and heart-to-heart connection with God. When our prayer life is regular, consistent, and healthy, our whole life seems to buzz with a synergy and life force that keeps everything flowing. God designed us for relationship and the highest and greatest source of life that He designed us to experience is in our relationship with Him.
This is one of my favourite areas. When you live from the place of engaging with the Holy Spirit through cultivating a prayer life, the Bible literally comes to life and becomes an inner dialogue with God as you read and engage it. Jesus told His disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes He would be their teacher and would remind them of everything Jesus said. Reading the Bible and exposing ourselves to great teachers and preachers who expound upon the truths of the scriptures are an immense source of strength, life, and wisdom.
Finally we come down to one of the topics Jesus spent more time on than any other during His ministry: how we use the earthly treasure that He gives us to steward. As Jesus Himself said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." The practice of bringing our tithes and offerings to the Lord is a matter of simple obedience. It is a mighty declaration into the spiritual realm of His Lordship over our lives.
In short, whether it's enjoying a sport or enjoying the fullness that comes from a life devoted to being a disciple of Jesus Christ, the basics can be ignored but only at the peril of your success in what you do.