15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.
Spiritual growth and maturity do not happen automatically. They are the result of a process, a discipline. We must have a plan and follow the plan. If we just open the Scriptures haphazardly, we will have a haphazard spiritual life. If we have a plan, a discipline, if you will, then we will be able to see our progress over time. But more importantly, others will see the change in you and ask important questions. But we must have a plan. If you don’t have a plan to grow, you will wither and dry up. You must take in more than you expend. You must be disciplined in your pursuit of the Lord. Time in the Word, time in prayer, and time sharing life with others: all three are essential to life and must be planned into our busy lives. If we don’t plan them, but just expect them to happen, they will get pushed out of our schedules. The urgent will push out the essential. That is why Paul tells Timothy to be diligent about his speech, life, love, faith, purity, and ministerial calling. We must pursue these things. They must become a focal point in our daily lives. We need a plan to get to our goal and we need to stick to it. That is one of the reasons I do this BLOG. It forces me to stay disciplined. I must be in the Scriptures every day. It forces me to wrestle with the words and meaning, not just in some abstract, academic way, but with a personal call to obedience. The Lord speaks and opens my mind and heart to deeper levels of responsibility and commitment. The more diligent I am, the more the Lord calls me to come deeper. And the deeper I get, the more the Lord calls me to reach out. But I must be diligent. I must not slack off. For the moment I do, I begin to rely on my own strength and the power of the Spirit wanes in my ministry. The more me, the less Him. I challenge you to be diligent about your spiritual life. Have a plan and a goal. Stick to it. Push on. Don’t let temporary things pull you from the eternal.
The Arnold Journey 