Walking with the Spirit part 7

Living in the Rhythms of Life

We have now come to the conclusion of our series on Walking with the Spirit. As we conclude, I would like to take a few moments to review the series thus far, and then we will take a look at the last category of spiritual disciplines—resting with God.

Review of the Disciplines

Let’s begin our review turning to Galatians 5 and read our key verse for the series.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

…

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:16-17 & 22-24

If our desire truly is to follow the Holy Spirit and enjoy the blessings that come from a life well-lived, we see right away we must crucify the desires of the flesh. After all, those that have surrendered to Jesus know sin is our ultimate problem. Our sinful nature is what drove us away from God in the first place, and it is this same nature that desires to keep us from fellowship with our Savior. And so, we can walk by the Spirit of God, and in doing so, we will not gratify the flesh.

How do we know if we are walking with the Spirit? We will see the fruit of this walk—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As we continue to walk with the Holy Spirit, He will cultivate these traits in our lives. We then asked, “How can we walk with the Spirit better?” The answer is in the spiritual disciplines. These disciplines are not meant to be legalistic rituals that oppress our life. They are actually the means by which we communicate with God, and thereby grow closer to Him. As we draw closer and closer to God, we see these traits emerge and grow in our heads, hearts, and hands. In essence,

We become better followers of Christ through spiritual disciplines which then cultivates the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

The first set of disciplines were those associated with Meeting With God—prayer, Scripture intake, and fasting. Each of these disciplines require us to carve out time in our lives to devote to our relationship with God. And this reality is why we call them “disciplines.” Prayer, Bible study, and fasting do not happen by accident. We do not just wake up one day understanding the things of God or the mission of God. And we certainly do not wake up miraculously knowing our place in the grand tapestry of life the Lord is weaving with this world. Sure, we can know many things about ourselves, and we can certainly know the desires we have in this world, but we will never understand how God wants us to use our talents and desires for His glory without meeting with Him.

The disciplines of prayer, Scripture intake, and fasting are to help us communicate and grow closer to the Lord.

The second set of disciplines were those associated with Joining With God—evangelism, ministry, and teaching. Once we recognize how God has designed us and the mission He has to bring salvation to this world, then we can join in His mission. And once we start to join with God, we realize that our service to Him starts small. We don’t have to rearrange everything about our lives all at once. In fact, the people God puts in your life are those He wants you to start with. We tell others about Jesus who need to hear about Jesus. We do good to those who are in need. We teach the ones that God allows us to influence. And remember, teaching is not always in a formal setting or classroom. We can teach those younger than us, and every time we talk to someone about Jesus, that is a form of teaching. The context and form of our evangelism, ministry, and teaching does not matter so much as our faithfulness to do these things God has called us to do.

The disciplines of evangelism, ministry, and teaching are to join with God in helping others grow closer to the Lord.

And now we come to the last set of disciplines which remind us that life is built on rhythms. We were never meant to go, go, go in the way this modern world seems to drive us. Let’s take a look at the disciplines that fall under “Resting with God.”

Rest with God

Sleep

We tend to think of sleeping as laziness, but the truth is—at some point, you have to rest! Sleep reminds us that, at the end of the day, our work is ultimately in the hands of God. Consider Psalm 127.

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Psalm 127:1-2

Our need, and it is a physical need, to sleep reminds us each day that we do not have the power to accomplish everything in this life. We have to lean on the Lord to care for us. It is also a reminder that our very lives are always in His hands. How do we know we will wake up in the morning? How do we know something will not attack us in the night as we sleep? Yes, we can take every precaution to keep ourselves safe at night, but ultimately our lives are in the hands of the Lord.

And those whose trust is in the Lord can sleep soundly. Jesus says,

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

The Lord desires to give us rest. Yes, the day requires a measure of labor, but the night is given to us for rest. Now, those who work night shifts do not need to feel as though they are breaking some command. Whether you have the night sky to darken your bedroom or some blackout curtains over your windows, the point is simply this:

The Lord designed us to labor for about two thirds of a day and rest the last third.

Every doctor will tell you the same thing: you need about 8 hours of sleep per day. So get your rest. And with these daily reminders of rest, the Lord has also built rhythms into the seasons and years which the Bible calls “Sabbath rests”.

Sabbath Rests

Genesis 2 begins with the 7th day of creation, and guess what…God even took a break! The 7 day week is a God-designed rhythm for Creation. Yes, we are called to work 6 days. And yes, we should work with all our heart and might. But on the 7th day, rest!

Mark records an interesting conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees. The disciples were picking grain to make bread as they travelled. The problem for the Pharisees is they did this on the Sabbath. Jesus gives them a quick Bible lesson and declares,

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Mark 2:23-28

The Sabbath was never meant to be a time of legal testing. It is a time of rest and worship. We carve a day of the week to give to the Lord in order to be refreshed.

Keeping the Sabbath and getting an appropriate amount of rest helps us maintain the rhythm of growth in our life.

In addition to the weekly Sabbath, the Lord ordained a series of Sabbath holidays throughout the year for Israel. In fact, our word “holiday” is a combination of the phrase “holy day.” Holidays are a part of the Lord’s blessings to us. Now, many Christians disagree on which holidays we should celebrate, thanks to the influx of secular and other religious holidays that have emerged in our world. Whether or not we should celebrate certain ones can be determined by the conscience of the individual Christian. Keep in mind Paul’s instruction on the matter.

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Colossians 2:16-17

Likewise, to the Romans he writes,

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Romans 15:1-2

And so, when we talk about holidays, we can look to the Old Testament and continue to celebrate the Sabbath schedule of the Jewish calendar, which is quite rewarding in many ways, or we can look to our brothers and sisters of other denominations who keep the Christian Liturgical Calendar. Or, as many good baptists do, we can just choose from both and keep the holidays we want to keep. However we choose our holidays,

The Sabbath and Christian holidays are designed to remind us of the blessings of God throughout the year.

They were never meant to be a curse or tool for oppression. They remind us of the harvest schedule and encourage us during the times of the year when it appears our labor may be in vain. For those who continue in agriculture, each spring is the promise for new life and productivity. Each summer is a time for hard labor in the fields. Each fall’s harvest reminds us that labor is not in vain. And each winter is an opportunity to rest from the year’s labor. And, if you are on a more industrial schedule of the year, the work may look different from season to season, but the rhythm still exists. You just may take a summer vacation rather than a winter.

And the Church’s holidays remind us the promises of our Lord and the substance of our faith. Each Christmas we are reminded of the Incarnation and promise of Jesus’ return. Each Easter we are reminded of the price for our salvation and the hope we have in, not just Jesus’ resurrection, but our own resurrection. Because Jesus lives, we too can live again having eternal life.

And at the end of October, whether you want to celebrate Reformation Day, Harvest Day, or Halloween, we can celebrate the work that has been done in the year and years past. Calling it Reformation Day brings to mind those great Christians who saw the corruption of the Church and said “No more!”. Harvest Day is essentially the Jewish celebration of Shavout which celebrates the harvest and the giving of the Law—just Christianized. And yes, I do believe Christians can celebrate Halloween, though I understand it work against the conscience of other Christians. Though it has certainly taken on some pagan practices in its lifespan, it was originally connected to All Saints Day, November 1, and was a celebration of those saints who had died, especially those as martyrs. The earliest Christians celebrated their brothers and sisters in Christ who already received their eternal rest in the Lord knowing they would see them again when they passed from this life. And even today, we can celebrate the knowledge that we will see our brothers and sisters in Christ again because of the salvation we have in Jesus Christ. We can even mock the darkness in this world because Jesus has already overcome the world putting its dark rulers to shame. Again Paul writes,

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Colossians 2:13-15

Choose to celebrate holidays that help you give honor to the Lord for all the blessings you have being patient with those who may choose differently.

Yes, there are some holidays that are best to avoid, especially those honoring false gods. But don’t let the world’s corruption ruin your own seasons of celebrations and rests.

Retreat

This last discipline is one that isn’t mentioned much, but turn with me to Mark 1:35-39.

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Mark 1:35-39

Notice where Jesus was when the disciples came looking. He was on his own in a desolate place praying. Taking a retreat every once in awhile helps reset our brains. We can focus on rest and hearing from God. And then, we can rise as Jesus did knowing exactly what our next step is.

Jesus went about preaching and casting out demons, but he started that after taking the time to rest.

Retreating from our normal surroundings every once in awhile helps renew us for the battle ahead.

Even with the yearly holidays and daily rests, there will be times when the Lord calls you to break away from your surroundings. These are times when God is getting ready to do something extra special with your life. Perhaps life circumstances have forced you to break away from the norm. Or, perhaps you feel it may be time to take a vacation. Regardless how you come to the conclusion “it’s time for a break,” remember these times of retreat are not just about having fun. They are the perfect time to reflect on the course of your life and evaluate whether you are accomplishing the mission and purpose God has given you. And when this time allows you to make plans for the future, then go for it with all your might! You get one shot at this life. Use these spiritual disciplines God has given us to make it count!