A Word (or two) from Mark

The first step in forming a “trellis” that makes room for the work of God to take place in our lives is to engage in candid reflection on our current status.  I said Sunday that we all have a “trellis” because we all have a set of things we do regularly.  Some patterns may be relatively recent ones adapted because of some change in our life or schedule, while others may be established from long habit.  As you ask yourself these questions, don’t be hard on yourself.  Try to be as thorough as you can, without any prejudgment.  Try to be neutral.  That way you won’t “fudge on any of the answers.  Are you ready?

1.  How much sleep do you get each night?  (Do you have a regular bed time or get up time?)

2.  What are your weekly commitments?  ( Appointments, work schedule, trips to the gym, the grocery store, coming to our Sunday worship, Life group,  anything you do weekly.)

3.  Reflecting on 2009, what project or projects did you accomplish outside of your job?  ( This could be anything you did to your home, or volunteering, or as a member of a team.  Anything you would consider as “done”.)

4.  How much time did you spend in regular activities.  (reading, watching television, going to the movies, meeting friends, sports,)

5.  How are your finances?  Do you have a budget and a financial plan or not?  What kind of pressure are you experiencing in this area?

6.  What is the balance between “work” and “play” in your life?  Do you always have to be doing something productive, or can you ever just rest.

7.  What is our current plan for spending time in the word and prayer?  What spiritual disciplines do you practice regularly?   Do you have some goals in these areas? Do you have some prepared materials, study guides, etc. that you are using in this area? Do you use some kind of prayer list?  What are you doing now to grow spiritually.  List anything you are currently doing.

7.  What “rules” guide your life.  My family told me that one of my rules was that when the traffic light turns green, it means go, and I get to say things to the car in front of me I would never say to the person’s face if they don’t go.  Maybe you have some “governing” rules that shape your behavior at different times.

8.  After you make a list consider these numbers.

24 hours in a day

7 days a week

168 hours in a week.

Now, take the answers from the previous questions, and anything else you observed about your life this week, and make some kind of list or chart that shows how you are using the time God has given you.  Is there any room in your schedule?  Are you overbooked? Do you have lots of free time?

The main purpose behind this exercise is to bring you to this point.  Having a “rule” or a trellis just may give you a new found permission to say “NO”…. I can’t add that to my life right now, thank you anyway.   Wouldn’t that be a relief?  For some of us, before we can say Yes go God, we may have to say no to a few things, just so we have breathing room.

Please feel free to make comments on this post, as your thoughts may be helpful to others.  And be sure to e-mail me any insights you have.  I ‘d love to know what you are learning.

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This year I am experimenting with a thought I learned from a couple of different sources.  It is an idea that goes back to monastic traditions.  Ooohh..that sounds scary. But it really isn’t.   Each monastic movement had a “rule” that governed the pattern of their corporate life.  It was a set of principles that guided them in how they worshiped, worked and lived in community.  From this, we can adopt the idea of constructing our own “rule” of life.  Now if that sounds legalistic, consider this.  Whether you have chosen to construct a “rule”, or simply just lived life with little thought about the pattern you were constructing for yourself…you still end up with a “rule”.  You do certain things pretty regularly.  (I have never encountered anyone who thought it was legalistic to practice eating three times a day.)  The question to consider is whether the rule you have, chosen or otherwise, places you before God in a way that He can change you.  If our normal regular patterns never bring us to the Scriptures, or to prayer, then how can we ever expect the work that only the Holy Spirit can do in us to take place.

So this year in church I am going to be talking about what our “rule” is. But the analogy is better considered as a trellis.  A grape vine grows best when there is some structure to support its growth.  A “rule” or pattern for life is simply a trellis for our branch to grow on as we are connected to the vine.  (John 15:5) It isn’t the vine.  It has no life in and of itself.  But it supports the growth the vine creates.

To get us started with this process, I am asking you to do this simple assignment for this week, observe your life. Try to write out the “rules” or “trellis” you are living by now.  Check back on Tuesday, (January 5th)  for some specific questions to ask yourself about your current ” trellis” or “rule of life”.  Feel free to leave some comments here on the blog.  As you make some observations…share them.  Send me an e-mail about what you are learning about yourself from considering your own “rules”.  I would love to have some people share some thoughts next Sunday as we each develop our own “rule” or “trellis”.

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