immerse

Most people I have spoken to have set out, at one particular time or another, to “get healthy”.  And for about a week or two or even a month they were pretty successful.  They ate well, exercised, and got good rest.  But then as different responsibilities pulled their attention their resolve to “get healthy” soon eased into a resolve to simply “eat healthy” or “walk once a week”.  They still desired to reach that health goal, but they were less aggressive about their efforts.  How frequently have we done the same thing about our sanctification.  We hear a good sermon or read a good book and resolve to “get spiritual” or “become a better Christian”.  For a week or two, or even a month, we do our daily devotions, pray, and even journal all our prayers.  Then as the different responsibilities of life pull our attention our resolve soon eased into a “read the bible once a week” or “attend the weekly bible study”.  What happened?  What caused us to stop the full fledged progress to sanctification.  1 Timothy 4:15 gives us a little insight.  It says: “Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.”  Paul tells Timothy that in order to begin to see progress in his spiritual improvement he must practice godliness.  And not just practice daily, but immerse himself.  When you immerse yourself in something it means it is surrounding you, it is consuming your thoughts, it is an active part of your daily life.  It isn’t just something you do once a week, it isn’t even something you just do once a day.  It is something that you are.  So when you are struggling to see progress in your sanctification check to see if you are truly immersing yourself into knowing God and seeking to honor Him.  Because when you immerse yourself into the Creator of the World you will begin to change - because you will be spending time with the only perfect God.  How is that done on the daily?  Well that my friend is the story of your life.  There is no formula.  Just a call.  A call to immerse yourself in learning about God - a call to immerse yourself in loving and serving God.