Godly Discipline

It is Wednesday morning, the 8th of February, 2023, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

“But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
1 Corinthians 9:27

He is talking here about the Christian lifestyle. We need to walk the talk. You know, the previous chapters, Chapters 6, 7, 8 up till 9, are all speaking about living a godly life, a Christian life, being a good example to a world that has lost all sense of dignity and morality, where literally anything goes. 

They asked the great revivalist, John Wesley, when he was in his mid-eighties, “What is the greatest temptation that you are facing in your old age?”, do you know what he said? He said, “The lust of the flesh.” Folks, we have to put the flesh down. We have to discipline ourselves and we have to lead from the front, not only by word of mouth but also by action too. 

I remember when I started preaching 44 years ago. I was so nervous, I was in the back in the vestry, behind the pulpit and the elders were laying their hands on me and praying for me, for strength and courage. There was one old lay preacher, he came to me and said, “Son, get in there and give it to them because I have done my bit.” Now, I was only about 3 months old in serving the Lord and I must admit, I have never forgotten that statement. It made me very sad you know, “I have done my bit.” I felt like saying, “Sir, have you ever been crucified? Have you lost your blood for the sake of the Gospel? How can you ever do your bit? We need to finish this race strong for Jesus. We need to discipline our bodies, we need to bring them into subjection, and we need to live godly lives so that the people in the world can want what we have got. What is it that we have? Well, we have peace of mind, we have the love of the Lord, we have courage, we have long-suffering. Yes, we have Jesus, and you know, when Jesus is in your heart, that is the thing that will stop you from committing adultery, having affairs, putting your fingers in the till, and telling lies. A Godly lifestyle - that is what Paul said, and we don’t want to disqualify ourselves by our actions. 

Have a wonderful day as you walk tall for Jesus Christ. 
God bless you and goodbye.