Increasing Our Spiritual Batting Average
Wouldn't you want to do whatever is within your reach to better follow and serve your Lord here on earth?
"Do I really need to work hard at the spiritual exercises? I mean, I'm saved already." We’re indeed saved by the work of Christ on the cross and you will never find me disputing about this gracious and merciful gift from our Lord. However, we still find ourselves living on earth. We haven't been transported to heaven. We live in a very broken world where our mission as believers is to live for Jesus and serve His Kingdom agenda. As a saved people of God, isn't it our greatest desire to please our Lord and Master as best as we possibly can here on earth? As the apostle Paul wrote, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please [the Lord]” (2 Cor. 5:9 ESV). If so, wouldn't you want to do whatever is within your power to increase your chances of obeying God and avoiding sin? Wouldn't you want to increase your batting average when it comes to successfully following Jesus as you live here in this world? Do we really want to do just the minimum amount of spiritual work to barely get through this life?
Deep and robust engagement with spiritual exercises will help us stand a better chance of obeying our Lord and avoiding sin while here on earth. Our deep times of prayer and meditation will help us increase our batting averages when it comes to living out our lives in a way that most reflects Christ.
It's important to note, however, that this is still not a perfect solution. Having the spiritual disciplines active in your life isn't a sure-fire way to always obey Christ and avoid sin. Even with my lengthy times of prayer and meditation each and every day, I still have instances when I fall prey to temptation and sin. Whenever I sin, I am quick to lean on the grace granted by the Lord Jesus who forgives and saves me regardless of my earthly performance. I need not delay in repenting and returning to my Lord.
But here's what I have noticed over time: the number of times I fall into the trap of temptation and sin has been greatly reduced. I can only attribute this to the principle Jesus disclosed to His disciples found in Matt. 26:41 (ESV): "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation." As I take the spiritual activities of prayer and meditation very seriously, I stand a much better chance of obeying God and not entering into temptation.
Although the spiritual exercises are not a guarantee to successful obedience, they do start to help put the odds of spiritual success in your favor. Wouldn't you want to do whatever is within your reach to better follow and serve your Lord here on earth? Should you really be settling for the smallest amount of effort when it comes to your walk with Christ? If you settle for just the minimum amount of effort, don't be surprised if your batting average when it comes to obeying Christ remains quite low over your lifetime.
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.
