Responsibility to Practice Secret Disciplines

Practice Secret Disciplines

Scripture Memory

•“. . . That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. . . . when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. . . . appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” —Matthew 6:1-18

Name of God

•El Roi: The God Who Sees

–“And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?”   --Genesis 16:13

            In a healthy human relationship, each party has certain responsibilities to fulfill.  If nothing else, each must work to maintain the relationship to some extent, even if it is only by responding to the other person’s attempts to keep the relationship alive by responding to invitations to eat or phone calls or texts, or even just by answering questions and engaging in conversations.  “It takes two to tango,” as the old saying goes, and this is just the nature of a relationship.  The same is true with our relationship with God.  People get caught up in humans ‘not doing anything’ for salvation, because of what the Bible talks about in relation to not earning our salvation by works.  The fact that we do not earn our salvation by works does not change the fact, however, that God does expect certain things of us and gives us certain responsibilities to maintain this relationship with our Savior.  Nor is it possible to be saved or have a relationship any other way.  God has already done all the work, in the sense that without His grace, and the lengths He has already gone to (coming to earth as a man and dying on the cross for us, not to mention His relentless pursuit of us by His Holy Spirit, and the ways He interacts in people’s lives daily), the relationship would not have even been possible.  Now that we are restored to right relationship however, we have a responsibility to respond to Him.  Without that response, there will be no relationship.  The most valued response to God has to do with what we call “practicing secret disciplines.”  This makes a lot of sense when we think about it.  It is secret in the sense that other people are not seeing it, but it is not secret in regard to El Roi, the God who sees.  He loves private communication that is done solely out of love for Him, and has no other motive.  Those are the disciplines He delights most in, because the motivation is solely Him.  Of course, this does not mean that it is not still a discipline and a responsibility on our parts to fulfill.  In every relationship, there are things we do solely for the relationship that sometimes we do not feel like doing, but know must be done, so we do them anyway.  That is where the discipline part comes in.  But when we do make those sacrifices, just because we love God, He delights and revels in it.  The responsibility necessary in maintaining one’s own end of the relationship can only be fulfilled by that person.  One person cannot hold up both ends.  (Romans 12:18)  But as much as it depends on you, fulfill that relationship.  God has already done as much and more than depends on Him.  Now all we have to do is respond by praying, fasting, reading the Bible diligently, etc.  Are we willing to do it?
Full of Faith=Faithful