07/12/14
Jesus encourages three disciplines in Matthew 6:5-18 - prayer, fasting, and giving. Other disciplines orbit around these primary directives. In each case, He warns against ostentatious displays. Each is deeply personal, quietly embraced, but rewarded by God only if offered in a sincere and humble manner. These three disciplines control all of life. They provide our foundational structure for development - lose structure, and lose the disciplines that anchor life! Again, they are not the goal.
"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" - that is the capstone summary of Jesus.
The three disciplines are doorways into a realm where we experience the kingdom here and now, possible only by the grace-based relationship with the King Himself. The disciplines are therapeutic regiments designed for the healing of our bent and fallen will. By them, we tether our will to God's will. By them, our flawed natures are first graced and then transformed. God thereby offers us an incredible partnership, a covenant. That calls us to offer the gift of our free will - and that requires freeing our will from the grip of the flesh. "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth" - we pray daily, beginning in my earthy vessel. Extend your kingdom, firstin me and then through me.
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