While riding in the backseat of my Subaru Outback, one of my co-workers said it sounded as if I had a bad wheel bearing. I previously noticed a change in the sound of my tires on the road, but I confess I’m just shy of ignorant when it comes to car maintenance. I shared the news with my husband, but he didn’t seem too distressed, so I continued to drive the car every day – for months. Until one day, I couldn’t.
On the way out of the mechanic shop, my husband called me. “You know the story of a frog in slowly boiling water?” he asked. I did. “That was us,” he sheepishly replied. The pesky noise kept getting worse over time, until one day our car was the equivalent of a cooked frog. Though plenty expensive, the repair made all the difference in the sound and, more importantly, the safety of the car.
“Discipline” is my word of the year this year, and that car experience reminds me of our need for it. As we get into busy seasons of unending to-do lists and trying to balance family/church/work life, we can neglect to hear the sound of something in need of spiritual repair. Our scheduled maintenance gets delayed, or worse, skipped, and we become accustomed to the brokenness.
The Word of God, our “Owner’s manual,” gives us plenty of written instruction about how to avoid the frog’s (and my Subaru’s) demise.
Foremost in my mind is the Apostle Paul speaking to the Thessalonian church. “For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. When they say, ‘Peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness. So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled.” (1 Thes. 5:2-6)
There it is – the discipline of self-control.
Here are a few other things listed in the “Owner’s manual” as necessary maintenance to prevent an unintended breakdown:
- Discipline of Action: Training my body and bringing it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified. (1 Cor. 9:27)
- Discipline of Thoughts: Destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and taking my very thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. (2 Cor. 10:5)
- Discipline of Renewal: Not being conformed to the pattern of this world but instead, transformed by the renewing of my mind. (Rom. 12:2)
The day we finally admitted the Subaru needed maintenance was a very important one. Our youngest daughter was preparing to graduate from university (a semester early and summa cum laude from the College of Honors – proud mom moment!). There we sat on the side of the road, wondering if we were going to make it to her graduation ceremony. I could look back and see that I had been lulled into the rhythm of brokenness, distracted into waiting another day to fix my car. On graduation day, I wished I could go back and replace the bearing on any other day – but I couldn’t.
I’m reminded of Jesus sharing the spiritual equivalent in Matthew 25, where he tells the parable of the ten virgins. Five of the women were wise, alert, and ready for what was to come. But five had become complacent and no longer prepared for the return of the bridegroom. They too had been lulled into a rhythm of brokenness. They wished they could go back and be disciplined on any other day – but they couldn’t.
Any of us could easily find ourselves in the same position. If we start to notice signs of complacency, Jesus concludes with actionable wisdom we can apply to our lives today: “Therefore, be on the alert [be prepared and ready], for you do not know the day nor the hour [when the Son of Man will come].” (Matt. 25:13)
Our spiritual preparedness today helps to prevent a break down later. So, let’s commit to practice the discipline in our “Owner’s manual.”
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