Discipline equals Freedom
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32221Invitation to Worship - Pastor Adam
Worship - Eden
Message - Pastor Adam
In 2017 a Navy seal named Jocko Willink released a book titled Discipline equals freedom - which quickly became a New York Times best seller - the concept being that as you apply discipline to your life, in the little things - you become free to really do the things that you want to do. If you discipline your finances and don’t spend every dollar that comes through your hands on nonsense, you can do much bigger things. If you discipline yourself to get up every day at a specific time, you have more time in the day to accomplish the things that you really want to or need to do. The Bible talks about this at length - and is an even better Best Seller. In the book of Proverbs, Solomon wrote to his sons - and said this...
I went by the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of one lacking sense.
Thistles had come up everywhere, weeds covered the ground, and the stone wall was ruined.
I saw, and took it to heart; I looked, and received instruction:
a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest,
and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need, like a bandit.
Soloman says that he has considered what it means to be lazy. He has given it great thought. He has seen what it does to others. seen it in action. And it isn’t good. He went by the field of a slacker.
The slacker owned a field. They had possession of something that had the potential to be amazing. To grow crops and provide for a future. \
But this guy was a slacker. A sluggard. A lazy, complacent individual.
The fool owned a vineyard. If he took care of it, it could provide for his family for generations. The vineyard would provide revenue for generations. But it takes wisdom to make things grow. A vineyard does not care for itself - you have to plant and prune and harvest.
And the one who owned this vineyard, wouldn’t. Because he lacked sense. The things that he had, would not be cared for.
And so, thistles grew up. Because they weren’t pulled. Weeds covered the ground, because they weren’t cut back. And because they grew up - the stocks became woody. The roots grew deep. The work needed to clear them out got more and more difficult. And so it was put off a little longer. A little while longer. Tomorrow. The walls.. the stones didn’t crumble, God made those, but the part that man was responsible for - the mortar, and the stacking. The maintenance. The upkeep - all forgotten. And the stones aren’t stacked any more. Just little piles. They offer no protection. They offer no boundary.
But we are going to fix it. Tomorrow.
Next week.
Next month.
you know, we have enough to get through this season, lets just wait till next year.
It becomes a slippery slope that eventually leads to… you know, I wasn’t a very good farmer anyway. Maybe we should move.
Those grapes never did anything for me anyway - I may as well let those go.
And the weeds grow up. And the thistles thicken. They grow harder and harder to cut back.
Solomon considered these things. He saw the fruit of laziness and a lack of sense and he warned his children against it.
He saw it - and learned from it. He saw that carelessness, and a lack of discipline caused these once great resources to be wasted and lost. And he writes this next line to sum up what he had experienced.
a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest,
and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need, like a bandit.
He says laziness, a need sleep.. just a little longer.. a need for just a few more minutes.. leads to what seems to us in that moment as instant poverty. All of a sudden brokenness.
How could we have known!!
Its a total shock!
We’ve been robbed!
Does poverty truly come all at once… No. Poverty comes one poor decision after another. Need - unless from some true catastrophe, comes from one failure leading to another.
And we have seen some catastrophes. That apartment building that caught fire a few months ago, left some people all of a sudden in a really bad way.
But more often than not, Solomon is telling us, our condition is a direct correlation to our own actions. And inaction leads to decay and destruction.
The answer seems to be that discipline equals freedom. We have to do the things to be able to do the things. We have to maintain the things to be able to keep the things.
How that correlates to our lives as believers:
Practical:
I believe it is important that we understand this scripture from a practical point point of view as well as a spiritual one. The reality is if you don’t take care of your things, you lose them. That is important to understand. That applies to your fields and vineyards - whatever they may be.. your body, your home, your relationships, your family. If you can discipline yourself to care for these things - to do all of the things you need to do, then you will likely thrive.
Spiritual:
Then there is the spiritual perspective. The focus of my message this morning and really hopefully all of my messages is here. As I was preparing for this message, and thinking about that scripture, it occured to me that I our very nature as Christians is like that of a field or a vineyard. Our salvation is freely given, a gift from Jesus. And in that - we become a new creation.
Brand new. We have it.
Now what do we do with it? We train it. We discipline it. Lest it becomes just like the old creation. Nature takes back the fields and the vineyards that Christ worked so hard to clear, to plow, to cultivate.
So I want to look at some spiritual disciplines today. What can we do to maintain what God has done for us. To keep our stone walls built up.
First we need to understand that Discipline is something that we do, or we very intentionally do not do.
But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness.
Spiritual disciplines are going to be Derived from the gospel. You can’t just make them up on your own. My spiritual discipline is coloring. Well, no its not. You may find a way to glorify God with art, and that is a wonderful thing - but that is not a spiritual discipline.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,
so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Discipline has an intentional purpose.
It is how we pursue Godliness. They aren’t badges we wear - but more of what we do to make sure that we are ready for the things God has called us to. The pharisees struggled with this. They decided that if they kept all the rules, they were holier than and better than everyone else and God would glorify them because they kept all of the rules and regulations that they made up for themselves - Robert talked about that for a moment last week.
Study.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
Worship.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name; bring an offering and come before him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted.
Prayer.
“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward.
But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Confession. 1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Fasting Philippians 3:19
Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things,
But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.
Service
The greatest among you will be your servant.
Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.
Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,
knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.
Generosity
Fellowship
And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works,
not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.