By Tyson Thorne

April 22, 2014
 
 

SpiritualToDoList large

At the start of my first semester at Moody Bible Institute I sifted through the syllabus for every class and jotter on a calendar the day each assignment was due. I then created a list in chronological order of the assignments so that in every spare moment of time I could glance at the list and write the next paper or read the next book. So efficient was this method that I completed every assignment, read every book and wrote each paper before midterms. It was glorious, for I had a half semester of opportunity to do whatever I pleased.

There was only one problem: final exams. By the time finals rolled around I hadn’t been in the materials for six weeks and my test scores reflected such. So second semester I improved on the process by completing the projects closer to their actual due dates and the results were predictably better.

Is it any wonder then, that when it came to my spiritual life I approached it in much the same manner? I made a list of godly attributes from Galatians chapter five and spent time attending to discovering what each of the fruits of the spirit were and how they could be lived out. First I spent a day on each one, trying to amplify the character trait into my character. Realizing that wasn’t enough, I extended the task to a week, and then a month. Progress was little and short lived, and do you know why?

Because to-do lists stink.

Make no mistake that’s what this amounted to – a spiritual to-do list, and while my intensions were good my methods were poor. Lasting change does not come from a to-do list or a new year resolution or even an oath – ask anyone who has done so or even someone in an addiction recovery program. Methods do not lead to lasting change – relationships do.

Rather than striving in my own strength and self-discipline to become filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control I should have been striving in the Spirit, recognizing my complete dependence on and obligation to God to create in me a new work. This is not to say that change is effortless, it is to say that unless we are inspired to become the man or woman God wants us to be because we actually know and love and spend time with our Creator that our efforts will lose.

Time spent in prayer is not to be treated as one more thing to check off our daily to-do list but rather like phoning an old friend. Prayer isn’t to be measured by how much time it takes but by how close we are to God when its over. There are some friends that I know when I call or visit them at home that I am going to spend a lot more time there than I should. Our conversation is going to go well into the night because it is good natured and interesting and sometimes even inspiring. Should our time in prayer be anything less than that?

What of the fruits of the Spirit? When we become inspired by God’s goodness toward us, by God’s love for us, by God’s faithfulness in our life, then we will become more good, more loving and more faithful ourselves. The key to Christian living isn’t church or Bible study or prayer meetings – though such things are fine – the key to Christian living is relationship with God. Why do we treat God as less than our family and friends?

It has been said that one will never understand redemption by believing that Jesus died for the sins of the world, but instead when we realize that he died for you. Likewise, I can never fully appreciate the Bible as God’s Word until I understand that God wrote it for me. The blessing of being able to step into the very throne room of God in prayer will never be appreciated until we understand that when we do so we are literally in the presence of God. God does not desire our sacrifice, he desires our relationship (Psalm 51.16-.17). It is time to stop treating God and our spiritual life like a to-do list.

 

 
 
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