Today, Ps Yang preached on the need to persevere, especially in the end times. A portion of his sermon he focused on the need to live a disciplined life.
When I was training for Ironman, I was super disciplined. In order to eat healthily, I went down the aisle to find the cereal with the lowest sugar content and the highest good fat and fiber possible. I simply looked at the nutrition table. I didn’t even care how it tastes. As long as it is healthy (my definition) and even if it tasted like cardboard, I would take it. The whole point was to provide my body with the best possible nutrition so it could repair itself faster and for me to train more.
Another aspect was training, in a matter of weeks, my whole life was flipped upside-down. I looked at my weekly schedule and tried to cram as much training as possible. After all, Ironman is not just long. It is very long. 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike and 42.2 km of running is no joke. It is seriously long and I am seriously willing to do whatever it takes to prepare myself for the race.
Of the three sports, swimming was my weakness. As such, in winter I spent considerable time hitting the pool to become a better swimmer. There were many frosty mornings where I woke up at 6 am, walked in the cold for half an hour to the pool, swim for an hour, then walked over to my mom’s workplace to pick up the car and go to work. Those days I showered more often at the community pool then at home.
In the recent season, I have not been as disciplined when it comes to seeking God. I have reasons. Too busy. No time. But those are merely excuses. I know what a disciplined life looks like. I experienced when I was training for Ironman and when I was seeking God before.
One of the consistent messages Paul shared is the need to have a disciplined life when it comes to following Jesus.
Check out 1 Corinthians 9:24-27:
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NKJV)
Or
You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
2 Timothy 2:3 (NKJV)
Like an athlete or a soldier, Christians must live a disciplined life. This is the condition of those who are children of God.
So with 2019 ending and a new year starting, let’s get back to the disciplined life of praying, studying the Word, seeking and growing.
