Self-Deprivation

ALL – Psalm 34:1-10
ALL – Proverbs 21:13
OT – Nehemiah 9:22-10:39
NT – 1 Corinthians 9:20-10:14

Interesting passage for the day: Like an athlete I punish my body, treating it roughly, training it to do what it should, not what it wants to. Otherwise I fear that after enlisting others for the race, I myself might be declared unfit and ordered to stand aside. – 1 Corinthians 9:27, The Living Bible

Thought: Discipline is really a simple matter of learning to say ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ One aspect of discipline is learning to say ‘Yes’ to great goals, great teachers, great pursuits. We want to fill our lives with greatness.

But sometimes in our zeal to say ‘Yes,’ we forget that we are limited, finite people. And we continue to say ‘Yes’ not only to what is great, but even to what is good…or what seems good…or what feels good…or what may not be good, but ‘I deserve a break!’. And the more we say ‘Yes’ to more options and opportunities, the less time we have for our loftiest pursuits.

That’s why we must learn to say ‘No.’ Saying ‘No’ is not only a statement of discipline, but of humility. To say it, we have to be humble enough to realize that we can’t do everything we want to do—not even every good thing we want to do! But saying ‘No’ can feel terrible! Often it feels like we’re missing out on life or depriving ourselves of good things. Paul wrote that he treated his body “roughly” to train it to do what it ought to do.

In some areas of life it matters less than in others. But when we’re talking about our relationship with Jesus Christ and our service to Him, this whole issue of discipline really counts! Too often we say ‘Yes’ to Jesus, but then we say ‘Yes’ to distractions, too. Without a willingness to discipline our lives, we end up being useless for the One who gave His life to save us.

Question: Perhaps you haven’t said ‘No’ to Jesus. Perhaps you’ve simply said ‘Yes’ to activities that use up your time so that you have very little time left for Him. What could you say ‘No’ to so that you can be more free to live a ‘Yes’ life for Jesus?

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