If you are at all tuned into ESPN you have seen the famous interview with Allen Iverson about missing practice. He just kept saying,"We're talking about practice, man, practice, not the game, not the game, practice." I think he says "practice" 14 times during that interview and always in the same disparaging way. I was thinking about it recently. I am in the middle of training to do an event later this summer with my son Jeremy. Someone asked me today if I liked the event or the preparation more. I like the preparation. When I was a basketball player I always loved practice. I had friends who loved the games but hated practice. That meant they missed out on a lot. I was thinking if you are a gardener you really need to like the process if you are going to be a good gardener. Otherwise, you would be like me and just go to the grocery. My guess is gardeners really love every part of preparing, sowing, tending and finally filling up the pantry and the refrigerator with fresh produce. A great gardener loves gardening more than the produce. I love the weekends and the worship services at our church. I love the part I get to play. I also love the process of preparing. I think most of us love it when we are used by God in some way. It is an amazing feeling to be caught up in something bigger than yourself. My guess is we better love the process though. We need to learn to love getting up early every day to spend time with God, to read some of the Bible, and just sit with Him. I think that is the Christian equivalent to practice. If we miss out on that we are missing out on the very best part. I want to continue to love the weekend services and preaching. But I want to love the process even more. The time I spend with God when it is just the two of us is the very best part. I hope it is for you as well.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
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3 comments:
Amen to that! I've come to the conclusion that without the PRACTICE of the spiritual disciplines, there will be no growth. But we don't do them to gain God's approval or acceptance--only Christ can do that for us. Instead, we do them out of a desire to express gratitude for the Gospel and because "we can't help ourselves." Once I got my motivation for quiet time, prayer, Bible study, Scripture memorization right, I started to experience growth and fruitfulness for which He gets all the glory!
Practice is the musician's friend. Can you imagine going to church and having to endure the worship team if they didn't practice? Yikes! - it's hours of planning and preparation for a three minute song. Practice prepares you for the unexpected. We study, pray, and read God's word so that when that moment of time comes we are "ready to give an answer." We never know when that will be - we need to be prepared "in season and out of season." Without practicing the presence of the Lord, we'll be caught unprepared when that situation arises. We're talking eternal consequences here. We should never be so rude to the Holy Spirit as to think we can turn Him on and off like a light switch in time of need. We practice - reminding ourselves of what we know and building upon that knowledge to draw ever closer to Him.
yeah it's just like waiting patiently asking and asking but waiting too. waiting patiently as in Psalm 37... practicing(asking) practicing (studying) practicing (praying) and waiting until He answers!
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