A Warning

March 19, 2019

DAILY READING

1 Corinthians 10:1-13
This weekend’s reading: Mark 14:66-72

FIELD NOTES

Like yesterday’s reading, this passage in 1 Corinthians is a reminder that doing religious things like baptism and partaking in communion as if they are a checklist for salvation is not the faith Jesus calls for.  I don’t know if you can relate, but if you are like me, there are some Sunday’s where I am just showing up to worship because I feel obligated.  There are some devotional times I do just because that’s what I think God wants me to do.   I sometimes pray and feel like I pray empty words.  My spirit isn’t in it.  However, there is a difference in doing spiritual disciplines (worship, Scripture reading, praying, etc) in order to seek God, even when we are tired or distracted and doing them because you think you are going to earn God’s favor.  John Wesley said that Christians should essentially keep practicing spiritual disciplines even if you feel like they are pointless because, through these practices, we experience Christ’s grace.  However, we shouldn’t think that these spiritual disciplines are an obligation to earn our salvation.  Our salvation comes through Christ’s grace freely given and our faith in Christ.  Works are a fruitful sign that our faith is growing and deepening.

QUESTIONS FOR THE FIELD 

• What spiritual disciplines do you practice?
• Why do you practice them?
• What fruits have you seen from a result of practicing your spiritual disciplines?

PRAYER GUIDE

Lord, make my spiritual disciplines about a desire to know you more instead of feeling like an obligation or understanding them as something that can “earn” your love and grace. Amen.