The Practice of Godliness: Godliness has value for all things (6 page)
Read The Practice of Godliness: Godliness has value for all things Online
Authors: Jerry Bridges
BOOK: The Practice of Godliness: Godliness has value for all things
7.07Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
THE NATURE OF TRAINING
Paul said, “Train yourself to be godly.” You and I are responsible to train ourselves. We are dependent upon God for His divine enablement, but we are responsible; we are not passive in this process. Our objective in this process is godliness—not proficiency in ministry, but God-centered devotion and Godlike character. We do want to develop proficiency in ministry, but for training in godliness we want to focus on our relationship with God.
Training in godliness requires commitment, the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit through His word, and practice on our part. Are we prepared to accept our responsibility and make that commitment? As we ponder that question let us remember, “Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come,” and “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 4:8 and 6:6).
NOTES
1
One of the best aids to daily Bible reading is
The Daily Walk,
available free upon request from The Navigators Daily Walk, P.O. Box 6000, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80934. This publication provides both a program for reading through the Bible as well as short explanatory notes on each day’s reading portion.
One of the best aids to daily Bible reading is
The Daily Walk,
available free upon request from The Navigators Daily Walk, P.O. Box 6000, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80934. This publication provides both a program for reading through the Bible as well as short explanatory notes on each day’s reading portion.
2
Information on materials for Bible study and Scripture memorization may be obtained from NavPress, P.O. Box 35002, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80935.
Information on materials for Bible study and Scripture memorization may be obtained from NavPress, P.O. Box 35002, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80935.
3
William Wilson,
Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies
(MacLean, Va.: MacDonald Publ. Co., n.d.), page 271.
William Wilson,
Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies
(MacLean, Va.: MacDonald Publ. Co., n.d.), page 271.
4
Seeking a Deeper Devotion
I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.
Psalm 119:10
Scripture defines unbelievers as totally godless. Paul tells the Romans that they have no fear of God, are hostile to Him, are unwilling to submit to His law, and are unable to please Him. This is just as true of the morally upright unbeliever as it is of the most corrupt profligate. The former worships a god of his own mind, not the God of the Bible. When confronted with the claims of the Sovereign God of the universe, he often reacts with greater hostility than an unbeliever living in open sin.
At the time of our salvation, God through His Holy Spirit deals with this godless spirit within us. He gives us a new heart and moves us to obey Him, He gives us a singleness of heart and inspires us to fear Him, and He pours out His love into our hearts so that we begin to comprehend His love for us. All of this is bound up in the blessings of the new birth, so we may safely say that all Christians possess, at least in embryonic form, a basic devotion to God. It is impossible to be a Christian and not have it. The work of the Holy Spirit at regeneration assures this. God has given us everything we need for life and godliness.
But though all of us as Christians possess a basic God-centeredness as an integral part of our spiritual lives, we must grow in this devotion to God. We are to train ourselves to be godly; we are to make every effort to add godliness to our faith. To grow in godliness is to grow both in our devotion to God and in our likeness to His character.
In chapter 2 we illustrated devotion to God by a triangle whose three points represent the fear of God, the love of God, and the desire for God. To grow in our devotion to God is to grow in each of these three areas. And as the triangle is equal on all three sides, so we should seek to grow equally in all of these areas; otherwise our devotion becomes unbalanced.
To seek to grow in the fear of God, for example, without also growing in our comprehension of His love can cause us to begin to view God as far-off and austere. Or to seek to grow in our awareness of the love of God without also growing in our reverence and awe of Him can cause us to view God as a permissive and indulgent heavenly Father who does not deal with our sin. This latter unbalanced view is prevalent in our society today. That is why many Christians are calling for a renewed emphasis on the biblical teaching of the fear of God.
A crucial characteristic of our growth in godly devotion, then, must be a balanced approach to all three of the essential elements of devotion: fear, love, and desire. Another crucial characteristic must be a
vital dependence upon the Holy Spirit
to bring about this growth. The principle of Christian ministry that Paul states in 1 Corinthians 3:7, “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow,” is just as true as a principle of growth in godliness. We must plant and water through whatever means of grace God has given us, but only God can make godly devotion increase within our hearts.
vital dependence upon the Holy Spirit
to bring about this growth. The principle of Christian ministry that Paul states in 1 Corinthians 3:7, “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow,” is just as true as a principle of growth in godliness. We must plant and water through whatever means of grace God has given us, but only God can make godly devotion increase within our hearts.
PRAYING FOR GROWTH
We express this vital dependence on God by praying that He will cause us to grow in our devotion to Him. David prayed, “give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name” (Psalm 86:11). Paul prayed that the Ephesian Christians might be able to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:16-19). And David prayed that he might dwell in the house of the Lord to behold His beauty and to seek Him in His temple (Psalm 27:4). Each of these prayers is a recognition that growth in devotion to God is of Him.
If we are committed to the practice of godliness, our prayer life will reflect it. We will be regularly asking God to increase our fear of Him, to deepen our understanding of His love for us, and to heighten our desire for His fellowship. We would do well, for example, to put the three verses mentioned above, or similar passages, on our list of prayer requests and pray over them regularly.
MEDITATING ON GOD
We have already discussed the overall importance of the word of God in developing godliness. The word also helps us specifically in the three areas of devotion—the fear of God, the love of God, and the desire for God.
Although all of the Bible should instruct us in the fear of God, I have found there are certain passages that are especially helpful to me in drawing my attention to the majesty and holiness of God—the attributes particularly suited to stimulate our hearts in the fear of God. Here are some passages I refer to frequently:
Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4—God’s holiness
These Scripture selections are intended only as suggestions. You may find others that are more meaningful to you. Use them. The important point is that God uses His word to create in our hearts the sense of reverence and awe of Him that causes us to fear Him. It is vain to pray for an increase of the fear of God in our hearts without meditating on passages of Scripture that are particularly suited to stimulate that fear.
There are also specific passages that will help us grow in our awareness of God’s love. I find these especially helpful: Psalm 103, Isaiah 53, Romans 5:6-11, Ephesians 2:1-10, 2 Corinthians 5:14-21, 1 Timothy 1:15-16, and 1 John 4:9-11.
In commending certain passages of Scripture to you, I cannot emphasize too strongly, however, that it is not just the bare reading, or even memorizing, of these passages that accomplishes the desired result of growth in godliness. We must meditate on them, but even that is not sufficient. The Holy Spirit must make His word come alive to our hearts to produce the growth, so we must meditate in prayerful dependence upon Him to do His work. Neither meditation nor prayer by themselves are sufficient for growth in devotion. We must practice both.
WORSHIPING GOD
Still another essential part of our practice of devotion to God is
worship.
By worship I mean the specific act of ascribing to God the glory, majesty, honor, and worthiness which are His. Revelation 4:8-11 and 5:9-14 give us clear illustrations of the worship that goes on in heaven and which should be emulated by us here on earth. I almost always begin my daily quiet time with a period of worship. Before beginning my Bible reading for the day, I take a few minutes to reflect upon one of the attributes of God or to meditate upon one of the passages about Him mentioned above, and then ascribe to Him the glory and honor due to Him because of that particular attribute.
worship.
By worship I mean the specific act of ascribing to God the glory, majesty, honor, and worthiness which are His. Revelation 4:8-11 and 5:9-14 give us clear illustrations of the worship that goes on in heaven and which should be emulated by us here on earth. I almost always begin my daily quiet time with a period of worship. Before beginning my Bible reading for the day, I take a few minutes to reflect upon one of the attributes of God or to meditate upon one of the passages about Him mentioned above, and then ascribe to Him the glory and honor due to Him because of that particular attribute.
I find it helpful to assume a kneeling position for this time of worship as a physical acknowledgment of my reverence, awe, and adoration of God. Worship is a matter of the heart, not of one’s physical position; nevertheless, the Scriptures do frequently portray bowing the knee as a sign of homage and adoration. David said, “in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple” (Psalm 5:7). The writer of Psalm 95 says, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker” (verse 6). And we know that one day every knee shall bow before Jesus as a sign of homage to His Lordship (Philippians 2:10).
Obviously, it is not always possible to bow before God in our times of worship. God understands this and surely allows for it. But when we can do so, I strongly recommend bowing before God, not only as a sign of reverence to Him, but also for what it does in helping us prepare our minds to worship God in a manner acceptable to Him.
In emphasizing the value of worship, I have dealt solely with the practice of private worship: that which we should do in our personal quiet time. I do not mean to ignore public, corporate worship; I simply do not feel qualified to speak on that subject. I would plead with ministers of congregations to give us more
instruction
in the nature and practice of corporate worship. I sense that many Christians go through the motions of a worship service without actually worshiping God.
instruction
in the nature and practice of corporate worship. I sense that many Christians go through the motions of a worship service without actually worshiping God.
Other books
Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai
Soul-Mates Forever by Vicki Green
Linger by Lauren Jameson
6 A Thyme to Die by Joyce Lavene
Death Takes a Gander by Goff, Christine
Jonah Watch by Cady, Jack;
Timeless Mist by Terisa Wilcox
Last Train from Cuernavaca by Lucia St. Clair Robson
The Magnificent 12 by Michael Grant
Obsession in Death by J. D. Robb
