It’s A Process

By this first week of January rolled around, many - perhaps most - people have packed away Christmas for another year. And there are others - like me - for whom it’s more of a process. Something not done all in one day, but spread out over time.

I went to physical therapy this morning as I have been doing twice a week since having shoulder surgery in July 2024. The surgery was extensive, and my shoulder had not worked well for a long time, so recovery is lengthy. It’s a process. A slow, steady, moving forward.

It occurs to me today that this idea of “process” is a picture of the Christian life. Just as after shoulder surgery I didn’t jump up off the table with a fully healed shoulder, neither do we jump from the point of salvation to knowing everything there is to know. Just as a baby is not born as a fully mature adult, but grows with proper nourishment, so do we grow as we are properly nourished in our faith.

How does this process take place? It’s through the process we often referred to as discipleship. Once we have committed our lives to Christ, we have become His disciples, His followers, His students. And we get to know Him, His character, and His ways, through the Word of God. We are nourished in the Word first with milk and then with meat, as we go deeper and deeper into our study and our understanding of the Word. This is what we think of as one of the disciplines of the Christian life.

Discipline is often thought of as an ugly word. A punishment word. But when it comes to our faith, discipline is that consistent and persistent commitment to the Word, of God to prayer, and to following the command of Scripture. It’s a process.

If you are not yet committed to that process, the beginning of a new year is a very good time to start. If you are a follower of Jesus, and have not yet committed to following Him closely through the study of His Word, please reach out to me. I’ll be happy to share some tools to get you started.

And if you are not yet a follower of Jesus, please reach out about that as well. I would love to help you get to know my Savior.

“Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” (1 Timothy 4:7b)