Dad died before I turned 16, but even before that my brothers and I just kind of had to figure things out ourselves. Being not small, we figured out we could dig and do demolition. We figured out how to do rough construction, but when we built a closet and dresser, we didn’t know enough to make corners square or drawers that fit and slide.
After dad passed, my mom moved us back to her hometown in upstate New York, so I got to spend time with my grandpa. He was the one who showed us how to put a new roof on the house, how to cut straight lines and make a frame square. He never went to college, but he taught me not only how to help keep a house but also shared wisdom in dealing with people.
Things that were good and right that I thought were incomprehensible or just beyond my capability became do-able, when I saw it being done, and by someone that cared enough to spend time and show me.
What disciplines of what are good and right may feel foreign or like they don’t even apply? How many things – especially when it comes to God – have you just disregarded because they were difficult or didn’t fit with the crowd you’re in?
On the other side, what people in your life have been an example of where discipline is do-able?
Jesus said: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” (John 5:19NIV)
In our lives, we have examples of falling or failing, examples of triumph and transformation, sometimes in same person or family. Each of us sets an example - for better or worse - for the people in our household, the people we work with, now increasingly the people in our virtual community. What example are you learning? What example are you being?
Spend time with Jesus. Let Him show you not only what is worth doing, but - with Him - how to do it.