Immersing Ourselves in the Spiritual Practices
If we hope to come out spiritually strong and ready to serve the Lord in any situation, we will need to put in the hard work.
Real progress in any part of life will always come at a cost. If you want to see substantial progress, you will need to put in the work to get there. Results aren't just going to come naturally without some effort placed. If you don't put in the work, the best you can hope for is very slow and very limited progress. More likely, however, you'll remain stagnant in your development or worse, you may go into decline. This is true for our spiritual growth. Yes, Jesus died on the cross and saved us. We don't have to worry about our salvation. But following Jesus in this world—actually being his disciple—is going to cost us something (see Lk. 14:25-33). With the help of the Spirit, we're going to need to put in some hard work to grow our spiritual lives. Paul advised Timothy in one of his letters with these words: "Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress" (1 Tim. 4:15 ESV). Paul encouraged Timothy to "practice" living the kind of life expected of him as a follower of Jesus. Timothy was to put in some real effort and hard work into it. He wasn't just to dip his toe here and there into the work of growing his spiritual life. Paul told him to "immerse" himself in the work.
One of the reasons why progress in our spiritual lives might be slow could be because we're simply "dipping your toe" into the work rather than "immersing" ourselves in it. Perhaps we're just praying a little bit here and there whenever it's convenient. Or maybe we open our Bibles to read a couple of verses only a few times a year. Or perhaps we participate in a church worship gathering whenever we just feel like it. These may provide some spiritual benefit. God can certainly use anything. But if we're just dipping our toe in the spiritual practices, our progress in our relationship with Christ and our spiritual development is more likely going to be very slow and very inconsistent. And that's because the work we're putting in is also inconsistent. We're simply reaping what we've been sowing. If we want to see real progress in our spiritual growth, then we need to put in some hard work with the appropriate intentionality, consistency, and effort.
A swimmer who is hoping to make it to the Olympics will never see that dream realized if he or she doesn't put in the hard work of training in the pool every day. They can't just dip their toe in the water once in a while and hope to come away with the physical ability to compete at an elite level. Instead, they must immerse themselves in the sport and the daily practice associated with it. It's the same with our spiritual lives. If we hope to come out spiritually strong and ready to serve the Lord in any situation, we will need to put in the hard work too. We will need to immerse ourselves in prayer, reading and studying Scripture, meditation, worship, and all the other good spiritual exercises that will help us connect with the Lord every day. We can't just dip our toe in these practices and hope to end up with a close relationship with Christ that will meet the challenges of living in this broken world.
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
