A few weeks ago, I was reading My Utmost for His Highest, and I came upon the daily reading for September 9. I suppose it was September 9th that day, I can’t remember, but the reading really stung me, and it was something I felt like sharing here. Of course, time passed, I didn’t get to it right away, but I’m getting to it now because it’s always relevant:

I’ll just copy it here:

Do It Yourself

“…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Determinedly Discipline Other Things. This is another difficult aspect of the strenous nature of sainthood. Paul said, according to the Moffatt translation of this verse, “… I take every project prisoner to make it obey Christ….” So much Christian work today has never been disciplined, but has simply come into being by impulse! In our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was never the slightest tendency to follow the impulse of His own will as distinct from His Father’s will–”the Son can do nothing of Himself…” (John 5:19). Then compare this with what we do–we take “every thought” or project that comes to us by impulse and jump into action immediately, instead of imprisoning and disciplining ourselves to obey Christ.

Practical work for Christians is greatly overemphasized today, and the saints who are  ”bringing every thought [and project] into captivity” are criticized and told that they are not determined, and that they lack zeal for God or zeal for the souls of others. But true determination and zeal are found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that arises from our own undisciplined human nature. It is inconceiveable, but true nevertheless, that saints are not “Bringing every thought [and project] into captivity,” but are simply doing work for God that has been instigated by their own human nature, and has not been made spiritual through determined discipline.

We have a tendency to forget that a person is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation, but is also committed, responsible, and accountable to Jesus Christ’s view of God, the world, and of sin and the devil. This means that each person must recognize the responsibility to  ”be transformed by the renewing of  [his] mind…” (Romans 12:2)

Wow. How often do we just jump up and say “Let’s do this” or “I want to serve here” without giving any thought to what we are doing. I know what my gifts are, and I know where I struggle. But there are people who would like me to serve in their area of ministry, mainly because they need help. Does that mean I should serve wherever? Absolutely not! I think it’s okay to test our strengths and weaknesses, but if you are serving in something that is not where you know God is calling you to be, then you need to determine to make a change. Even if that means you have people who say “why are you leaving for that? You were good here.”

It also brings me to another place, where I feel that the impatience I’ve had with God regarding our family’s calling has begun to change. It’s not that God is testing me, it’s that he wants me to be READY to serve. He is preparing us for work, not just throwing us in without any net. I will no longer take on a project without thinking it over and praying about it and whether or not it is what is God’s best for me.

It also reminds me about zealousness. I think about what being “zealous” meant in the Bible, and how it can be a good thing, but can also be a disadvantage. In Peter’s zeal, he spoke of things he knew not. He cut off a man’s ear, and he rejected Jesus in his hour of desperation. He never thought things through, and he learned hard lessons from that. Even in his later ministry, he struggled with this, and had to be brought back into the mind of Christ occasionally. But I think in the end he became disciplined and he did not act zealously so often at the end.

I’m usually a think-it-over kind of person. I like taking risks, but I also like knowing what I’m getting myself into. Even if it’s something uncertain, I feel better when I’ve been educated on my choices, understood that there is risk and made a decision based on the truth rather than on one interpretation of the facts. God wants us to become wise. Is it wise to leap all over the place like an unstable person, going back and forth, stressing out everyone around you and making people distrust you? I don’t think so. I’m not saying it’s always that bad, but if we determine deliberately that we are going to do something, we should stick to it, and not change our minds in a week. If it’s not something we can commit to, then we absolutely should NOT do it at all. Better to not start a project than have a dozen unfinished projects.