by Sister Cheryl Jacobs
“Are you tired? Worn out? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace” (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message).
The United Christian Ashrams International website defines a Christian Ashram as a retreat for the soul: “For a time, people can leave their busy lives behind to find a new rhythm of life focused on Jesus. We open our hearts to God and each other and come home refreshed and full of joy. The disciplines we practice at a Christian Ashram can transform the way we live all year long!”
Though the Bible uses the concept of “discipline” to mean training someone in a code of behavior or to punish or rebuke to correct disobedience, another meaning used is of training oneself to do something in a controlled and habitual way.
Jesus led a very disciplined life. In Conversion, E. Stanley Jones lists three things that Jesus did by habit: “Jesus read the Word of God by habit. Jesus prayed by habit. Jesus passed on to others by habit what He had and what He had found.”
My personality make-up struggles with keeping to a routine and so I have thought that I am not disciplined in my relationship with God. The Holy Spirit, however, is not limited by time frames and I know I have grown and continue to grow into good spiritual habits. Of course, that is not to say I could not “train” better like the athletes referred to in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.
One of the things I appreciate about the Christian Ashram event is the discipline of specific times with God and God’s people, but that this rhythm is flexible and unforced. We leave space for the Spirit. We are a gathering of like-minded trainees working out together, but at our own pace, to build good spiritual habits.
We should not be discouraged if we feel we lack discipline. Through God’s generous grace we are continually being transformed into the likeness and rhythm of our Lord Jesus.
Prayer (from 1 Kings 8:57-58, The Message)
“May God, our very own God, continue to be with us just as He was with our ancestors—may He never give up and walk out on us. May He keep us centered and devoted to Him, following the life path He has cleared, watching the signposts, walking at the pace and rhythms He laid down for our ancestors. Amen.”
