When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us.” Exodus 32.1

Spiritual disciplines are those activities we submit to which allow us to train our souls and bodies for a proper relationship with the God of the Covenant. The natural inclination of our minds, hearts, consciences, and lives is to seek out something other than God to be devoted to, and to walk in paths other than those which He has marked out for us in His Law. If we are ever going to be the kind of people who may expect to know the glory and blessings of God, we must apply ourselves to the disciplines God prescribes for us.

We’re all like the people waiting at the foot of the mountain for God to come down. That smoke and light display a bit earlier was pretty amazing. And those Ten Commandments, yep, they could see how that would be to their advantage. When Moses headed back up the mountain to receive additional information about the Covenant God was making with His people, Israel seemed ready to go as the nation God had redeemed for Himself.

But “out of sight, out of mind” was the order of the day. The people had not forgotten the might deliverance God had accomplished on their behalf. They simply became impatient. So they thought they could make gods to take the place of the Lord God as an expression of their “What has He done for us lately?” attitude, and attitude that would plague them throughout their trek through the wilderness.

The people of Israel were not thinking correctly; they had not trained their minds to remember the mighty works of the Lord and to ponder His graciousness and power. Their hearts had become impatient and fearful. They had begun to love their wellbeing more that Him Who alone could accomplish their wellbeing. Their values and priorities became unglued. They valued gods they could see – because they had made them – rather than the unseen God Who had shown them His glory. And their practices were already violating the first three commandments, before they’d even left the foot of the mountain!

And we’re all just like this. We are all inclined to turn away from God, soul and body, unless we discipline our hearts, minds, consciences, and daily lives to follow the path God has marked out. Spiritual disciplines are the divinely-provided tools and practices that can help us to bring greater measures of renewal and reconciliation in our souls and bodies. By them we get ourselves in shape to know the glory and blessings of God. Thus it is yet another measure of God’s grace that, knowing our weakness and need, He prescribes for us a regimen of disciplines that can enable us to know His favor – and avoid His wrath.

T. M. Moore

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