Day 27 (Mar 27)
– Train yourself for devotion
Day 27 (Mar 27)
Train yourself for devotion
Are you an “athlete of Christ” who trains regularly for devotion?
Audio (in Cantonese)
Audio (in Mandarin)
English
“Nothing we take seriously is unaccompanied by discipline.”
Faith is about relationships. It involves a vertical relationship between men and God and a horizontal relationship of men with one another. If the vertical relationship breaks, so does the horizontal one.
What can we do to prevent our relationship with God from breaking?
“Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.” (1 Corinthians 9:25).
For St. Paul, faith building is like winning a sports competition. It takes training and endurance. If an athlete must train his body with discipline in order to win “a perishable crown”, how much more disciplined must we Christians be in “training” our souls in order to receive the “inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4)?
“Train yourself for devotion…” (1 Timothy 4:7).
To prevent our relationship with God from breaking or weakening, we need to become an “athlete of Christ”! We must train for devotion regularly. What does this training entail? Like the training undertaken by a good athlete, it takes hard work, sacrifice and perseverance. It means repetitive practices that will make us fit for competition against “the principalities…the powers…the world rulers of this present darkness…the evil spirits in the heavens” (cf. Ephesians 6:12).
St. Paul cautions against running aimlessly and fighting “as if I were shadowboxing” (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:26). There are no better training practices than prayer, studying the Scriptures, and leading a virtuous and holy life.
REFLECTION:
Am I an “athlete of Christ” who trains regularly and vigorously for devotion? As an “athlete of Christ”, how complete and well-executed is my training routine?
TODAY'S PRAYER
Hear, O Lord, the sound of my call! Lifted up before You, O Lord, is my heart. Cleanse it with your living water to make it pure; enlighten it with your word to bring it joy; fill it with your Spirit to make it holy. For my heart, O Lord, can find no rest until it rests in You!
As my response to your invitation to train for devotion, I will commit myself to a daily Bible reading routine and will do so with a prayerful heart.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.