Do you always do the best you know? It seems most of us have areas of life where we just do not do as well as we know how. When it comes to eating wisely, my knowledge is much greater than my practice. I am the same way with exercise. It makes me feel better but I have to push myself to get started and sometimes I just excuse myself and put it off another day.
As a youth I thought it was not discipline that made someone practice something they really enjoyed. But when that same person begins to do professionally what they previously did for enjoyment it becomes work instead of play and requires discipline.
When we are young we enjoy sports, music, poetry or many other things in life. We are at the stage of life when we select those things we enjoy the most. Sometimes that choice is made because of what we do well. But those who excel at something can find it much more difficult to continue their progress toward professionalism. It is no longer just entertainment, it is now a profession and requires our full attention to achieve success.
This is where discipline comes in. We devote ourselves to training. We learn all we can and then practice what we learn in order to become proficient at it.
So what are we to make of the discipline in our lives. The Apostle Paul said, "but I buffet my body and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected." The illustration he uses about disciplining himself tells us this is a serious matter.
While there are few things we would call insignificant, such as job performance, diet, exercise, etc., there are none as serious as what Paul is discussing. As Jesus said, "For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul.
There may be some areas where we can be undisciplined and our lives remain unaffected. But we learn from the Bible the eternal well being of our souls is dependent upon living a disciplined life as a servant of God
