There Remains No Discipline in Discipleship

“Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;” (De 4:9 AV)

This piece of advice is perhaps one of the most profound.  When reading this passage, one might assume the Spirit is speaking of all the plagues and Red Sea crossing.  One might think He is referring to all the miracles which they saw in the wilderness or the judgments that come as a result of disobedience.  Further reading in the chapter will reveal the LORD is referring to their experience at the foot of mount Horeb (Sinai).  The LORD specifically stated not forget the voice they heard from the mount as it was on fire.  Do not forget the ten commandments which they heard.  Do not forget there was no similitude in which they can later fashion and idol.  Do not forget the law that we given on than mountain by the very voice of God.  Do not forget the mountain was on fire, yet unconsumed, and that Moses and Joshua descended unharmed!

The LORD is not going to do everything for us.  Through Moses, He instructs the people to do two things.  Take heed to yourself and keep their soul diligently.  These things are our responsibility.  The Spirit does the work, but it is our responsibility to yield to His hand.  To take heed means to critically exam ourselves and seek to shore up our shortcomings.  Keeping our soul diligently is a discipline.  Telling ourselves no.  Keeping our passions and desires under control.  This, again, is a ministry of the Holy Spirit, but it is our responsibility to seek that help.

Disciple is in discipline!  Walking with God is a discipline.  Not just an experience.  This is where we have made a grave error in our churches today.  We have gone down the road of defining what it means to be a believer solely on the foundation of an experience.  There is little or no discipline.  Israel forget the law.  This cost them dearly.  We are too afraid of the label of legalism to have law.  Therefore, we are losing what the LORD has blessed us with.  We are losing our families to the world, the church to leisure and entertainment, and ourselves to a warped idea of Christian liberty.  Like the verse above, if we do not teach the law to our children after we have seen it, they will be the biggest losers of God’s blessings.