Spiritual Check Ups
“For which cause we faint not;
but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”
2 Corinthians
4:16
If you’ve lived any amount of years, you’ve discovered that check ups
need to be part of your routine.
Check ups are often in order for the realm of our hearts, our teeth, our
eyes, or possibly some other areas that might feel uncomfortable or ache.
At the same time, there are times in our lives when we
should probably stop and get a spiritual check up. After
all, just like our physical bodies have a habit of collecting excess weight,
obstructions, and impediments along the way, so do our spiritual lives.
Not long ago, I was
reading one of my favorite Christian writers, Philip Yancey, who shared about
the travail of reaching another major milestone in his life. He wrote this: “When I turned 50 this year, I underwent a
complete physical checkup. Doctors
poked, prodded, X-rayed, and even cut open parts of my body to assess and
repair the damage I had done in half a century.
As the new millennium rolled around, I went on a silent retreat led by a
wise spiritual director.
In those days of silence and solitude, I paid attention to
what might need to change in order to keep my soul in shape. The more I listened, the longer grew the
list. Here is a mere sampling, a portion
of a spiritual action plan for the next 50 years.
Question your doubts as much as your faith: By personality, or perhaps
as a reaction to a fundamentalist past, I brood on doubts and experience faith
in occasional flashes. Isn’t it about
time for me to reverse the pattern?
For you own sake, simplify.
Eliminate whatever distracts you from God. Among other things, that means a ruthless
winnowing of mail, and giving catalogues, junk mail, and book club notices no
more time than it takes to toss them in the trash. If I eve get the nerve, my television set
should probably land there as well.
Always ‘err,’ as God does, on the side of freedom, mercy and
compassion. I continue to marvel
at the humility of a sovereign God who descends to live inside us, His flawed
creatures. ‘Quench not the Spirit,’ Paul
says in one place, and in another ‘Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.’ In so many words, the God of all power asks
us not to hurt Him. Do I show that same
humble, non-coercive attitude toward people of whom I disapprove?
Forgive, daily, those who caused the wounds that keep you from
wholeness. Increasingly, I find
that our wounds are the very things God uses in His service. By harboring blame for those who caused them,
I slow the act of redemption that can give the wounds worth and value, and
ultimately healing.
My spiritual check up
offers one clear advantage over my physical check up. From my doctor, I learned that no matter what
I do my body continues to deteriorate.
At best, a good diet and exercise routine will slow that
deterioration. Spiritually, however, I
can look forward to growth, renewed vigor, and improved health- as along as I
continue to listen, and then act on what I hear God saying.”
As I am full speed moving
toward my 50th year of life, I am heeding this good advice. While there are many more things that we
could add to our personal lists, it’s important that we occasionally do a check
up on the things that keep us growing strong.
In Psalm 26:2, David writes, “Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my
heart and mind.” There is no one
more willing than our Great Physician.
Terry Risser
Reflections:
1) What
area above strikes you most as important in this season of your life?
2) How
does our spiritual growth and physical growth differ?
Consider reading the word
Copyright 2014- Terry Risser
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