The Return....

Here we go into month number 4. How are you doing? I am afraid I got caught up in basketball fever and my blogging declined. However, here I am.

I relate all too well to the disciples in Matthew 26. This is where the disciples fall asleep while Jesus wrestles with his coming death. I fell asleep in March. I lost a lot of my discipline for other life concerns. The concern? Watching my daughter make a run in the basketball tournament. That sounds rather pathetic coming from the Spiritual Formation Director, doesn’t it? And yet, if I am honest it is what happens all the time. Daily life concerns take over our spiritual disciplines.

So do I give up? Do I condemn myself for being less than God wants? Or do I listen to the words of Matthew 26: 36-46. Jesus reveals his disappointment (anger?) with the disciples in their weakness. He does not condemn them. Rather He points out the truth of who they are and accepts it. These are the same disciples who go on to begin the church. They failed Him in Gethsemane. Jesus did not give up on them. He did not excuse their behavior. He simply continued to expect them to follow Him. Over time, these same weak disciples are the men who face death themselves in His name.

What do I do—a mere Spiritual Formation Director in a small town in Ohio? I begin again. I ask God for more strength to follow Him. I seek Him with my whole heart. I pray to love Him more than basketball. One day, I will. Please keep reading.