Ah another bit of Richard Foster, this time though the book is Life With God. So far (I’m to chapter 3) it is an excellent expansion of Celebration of Discipline. In the first chapter he begins to explain the interweaving of Spiritual Disciplines and Scriptures. On one hand the four distinct ways and the manner in which we read and approach the Bible is in itself an exercise of certain Spiritual Disciplines and then on the other hand through reading and taking in the Scriptures we come to understand and practice Spiritual Disciplines.
But such a (with-God) life does not simply fall into our hands. Frankly, it is no more automatic for us than it was for those luminaries who walked across our Bible. There is a God-ordained means to becoming the kind of persons and the kind of communities that can fully and joyfully enter into such abundant living. And these “means” involve us in a process of intentionally “training. . . in godliness” (1Tim. 4:7). This is the purpose of the Disciplines of the spiritual life. Indeed, Scripture itself is the primary means for the discovery, instruction, and practice of the Spiritual
Disciplines, which brings us all the more fully into the with God life.
He is eloquent and easy to take in, you soon forget the seeming formidability of the subject of both His books, Celebration of Discipline and Life With God: Reading the Bible For Spiritual Transformation. How can disciplines or the fact that one could celebrate them be this smooth and easy? As for the second title, reading the Bible (several times over), Spiritual transformation and spending your life with God, these are all seemingly daunting accomplishments meant for spiritual giants not for the common, especially the way he begins to lay it out, but then his words flow and it becomes clear that what he is talking about is ultimately simple. Simply and purely it is a willingness to place yourself before God who furnishes everything else. Simple and pure? yes, by God grace? absolutely! something that will just fall from the sky? not so much. We claim ours is not a “religion” but a personal relationship with God. I wonder how many of us would continue in the type of relationship we offer to God. Ah yes, we’ve got him over a barrel with the whole “He can’t let us go” thing. How much different is that from the poor woman married and unwilling to divorce the fellow who thinks he has a great relationship with her when he comes home, slams down a couple beers and has sex.
Just wondering
More soon, if you would like dear reader.
