In Need of a Plan

I read a line today, in Jerry Bridges' The Pursuit of Holiness, that really stuck in my mind. He states, "Discipline toward holiness begins then with the Scriptures--with a disciplined plan for regular intake of the Scriptures and a disciplined plan for applying them to our daily lives" (pg. 100).

This concept is nothing new to me, but I fear that is is a concept widely ignored in many Christians' lives today. It seems that most Christians assume that they will arrive at the destination of holiness, without knowledge of the process. "Holiness happens," seems to be the current mantra of most believers. There is very little intentionality about much discipleship that occurs in churches today. In fact, most churches may not even be making disciples at all.

I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of guy. I realize that my adolescent survival mechanism of living in the moment has left me sort of on autopilot. I was continually hounded by the fear of failure which left me paralyzed emotionally. When a person is unable to think of the future, because they think they'll never be able to achieve any of their dreams, it becomes increasingly difficult to think beyond the moment they are in.

While my fear of failure has diminished, my pattern hasn't changed. I still hate planning for the future. It may be that I still fear failure, and in some ways I still do, but I don't think the fear paralyzes me any more. After all, I have failed countless times without it killing me, and I will, should the Lord allow me to live, fail countless times in the future.

However, I think that I have been unable to break my habitual unintentionalness, because I have never had a disciplined plan that linked the study of Scripture and its application in this area of my life. When I read Bridges' words this morning, that reality gripped me. My habits haven't changed, because I haven't planned to change them. I just assumed it would happen.

While the concept of a disciplined plan wasn't new, I had never connected to my life in this way. In one sense, it has received a fresh application to my life. Now I can see that I have to imagine the outcome, and develop a plan that will help me to get there. Of course, the goal or outcome must be informed and shaped by Scripture, as must be the plan. True change is possible when we study the Word and apply it in our lives.