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NO PROGRESS WITHOUT
PRACTICE
It is foolish to
think that we can make progress in the habits of godliness by doing
nothing more than listening and learning. While these are essentials,
they are not
enough. It takes practice to make progress, and we should not expect
that to be any less true in spiritual matters than in those of a worldly
nature.
When we meet individuals who have become adept at the disciplines
of the godly life, we often suppose that they're just more devout than
we are. Or perhaps we think that they're more intelligent or insightful.
Or we wish that we could have read the books and heard the sermons that
they've read and heard. But when we think this way, we betray an
ignorance of the real thing that produces spiritual progress: practice.
The trait that distinguishes the adept from the inept is that the adept
have done certain things...over and over, every day, for many years.
Prayer: Not all of our prayers are of equal quality. Keeping
in mind a scriptural
definition of "good" praying, it must be said that we do not pray as
well at some times as at others. Paul mentioned that "we do not know
what we should pray for as we ought" (Rom. 8:21), and the disciples
asked Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his
disciples" (Lk. 11:1).
But how do you make progress in your prayer life? Well, we
certainly need to learn all that we can about the principle of prayer,
but the time comes when we have to start practicing the art of prayer.
It can't be learned any other way than by praying...over and over and
over, every day, for many years.
Understanding: It would be hard to overestimate the
importance of Bible study, but frankly, some people do a better job than
others of correctly understanding what the Bible teaches. The Ethiopian
eunuch, for example, was reading the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, but
he was having trouble understanding what the passage meant (Acts
8:30-34). So we need to work not only on the quantity but also the
quality of our Bible study (2 Tim. 2:15).
But how do you make progress in your understanding of the
Scriptures? It can't be
done by the simple investigation of hermeneutics. It requires patient
repetition of the
act of Bible study. You're not likely to find a mature, responsible
student of God's
Word who arrived at that point any other way than by doing Bible
study...over and over and over, every day, for many years.
Discretion: Isn't it refreshing when we encounter some older
Christian who has grown very wise in matters of discretion and
discernment? In a good sense, don't we "envy" those who have learned how
to size up a difficult situation and see which course of action is best
to take? Surely we do, and of all the abilities we need in this life,
none is more vital than the ability to take God's general principles,
apply them to a specific situation, and discern what God would want
done. Paul wrote, "Do not be unwise, but understand what the Will of
the Lord is" (Eph. 5:17).
But how do you learn to be a better decision maker? There is only
one way, and the Hebrew writer put his finger on it when he spoke of
those "who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern
both good and evil" (Heb. 5: 14).
In matters of godliness, then, there aren't many effective
shortcuts. Being a
beginner is just hard; that's all there is to it. Some time will have to
pass before we
can be more skilled. But the passage of time will not, by itself,
guarantee improvement (Heb. 5:12); we have to actually do the
things that need improving--and do them repeatedly. So let's look for
every opportunity to practice the things we want to improve. God
deserves nothing less than our very best, and the best that we can do
won't be done unless we pray and study our Bibles and use our
discretion--over and over and over, every day, for many years.
---- Gary
Henry via Gospel Power, Vol. 14, No. 34, August 26, 2007.
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