I like making to-do lists. Actually, that’s not true—I love making to-do lists. It keeps me focused, makes me feel productive and helps me hold on to my sanity. The satisfaction that comes with every check mark can only be understood by my fellow “Type A” personalities. Sometimes I will add a task that I’ve already completed to my to-do list, just so I can check it off. And I’d explain my color-coding system for my to-do lists, but I don’t want to give you more than you can handle. Organization and order are the air I breathe, but not all things in life should be reduced to a to-do list—especially my relationship with the Lord. Unfortunately, I too easily default to making my quiet times into a checklist. If I allow my heart and mind to go on auto-pilot, I end up living as if discipline and diligence are the ultimate goal, and not a response to an enjoyable relationship with the Lord.
Discipline isn’t a bad thing. In fact, God commands us to be disciplined throughout Scripture. Take Joshua 1:7-8, for example:
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
Passages like this have me scrambling for my Post-It notes and a pen. I am supposed to be careful to do everything written in the Bible, after all. Immediately I start to make the list in my mind:
-Obey all the Bible commands
-Don't turn from it
-Keep the Word on my lips
-Meditate on the Word during the day
-Meditate on the Word at night
-Do everything it says
Wait—obey all the Law? Do everything it says? Wow. I’m going to need some more Post-Its.
This is where my checklist system breaks down. When discipline turns into legalism, when my desire to be a “doer” of the Word and not just a “hearer” becomes my righteousness, there is a problem. There is a better way to approach the Word than making it into a checklist of good works and obedient acts. It’s called enjoyment.
I have been meditating on Psalm 119 recently, and these verses have become my prayer:
“Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it to the end.
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
And give me life in your ways.
Confirm to your servant your promise,
that you may be feared.
Turn away the reproach that I dread,
for your rules are good.
Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life!”
(v. 33-40)
In these verses, the psalmist’s love for the Word of God is unmistakable. He delights in the Word. He longs for it. But in his passion for the law of the Lord, he is not devoid of discipline. He is careful to be obedient, but he obeys from the heart (v. 34). The psalmist does not sacrifice focus for enjoyment. Instead, focus and enjoyment fuel one another.
I want to love the Word of God. I want my time in the Word to be fueled by a passion for His truth and a longing for godly wisdom, not just a sense of duty. Do I want to be obedient and be a “doer” of the Word? Yes, of course. But that obedience should be a result of the overflow of joy and love that comes from my relationship with Jesus and grace that He has poured out on my life.
