July 22

No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it. — Heb 12:11 BSB

The Apostle Paul speaks of chastening as something that, for the moment, is not joyous but grievous. In the same way, spiritual exercises form a part of this chastening process, which “afterward yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who are exercised by it.” Why does the Lord allow so many of his people to go through long and deep trials regarding their assurance in Christ? Why doesn’t he more quickly reveal his pardoning love to their souls? This is a mystery we cannot fully comprehend. But I have noticed that where the initial work of conviction was not deep and powerful, it seems that the Lord makes up for this by a longer, slower process, as if what was lacking in depth must be compensated for by a continuous work.

It is a great mercy, however, when such exercises are present. I am convinced that just as physical exercise is essential for bodily health, spiritual exercises are necessary for the health of the soul. Without motion, the air becomes stagnant, and water becomes polluted. Motion is life in both the natural and supernatural realms. So, doubts, fears, and desires—along with prayers—are the means by which the soul is kept alive and healthy. As Hezekiah said, “O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit.”

Even if you don’t see the good that these exercises have done, can you not see the evil they have kept you from? They have protected you from being entangled in the world’s systems. They have kept you from resting in mere formality, without the power of godliness. They have preserved you from that dead-letter faith that has destroyed thousands. Without these exercises, you might go on without needing a revealed Christ, without needing the love of God to be shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit.

Yet, many rest in “a name to live,” and in doctrine without experience. But because you are sick, you need a physician; because you are guilty, you need mercy; because you are a sinner, you need salvation—not just in word and name, but in the reality of divine revelation and application. Your spiritual exercises drive you to the throne of grace and make you see in Christ and his gospel what you would otherwise never have seen or cared for.

However, we should not rest in our spiritual exercises as signs of grace. Thirst is good when it leads us to water; hunger is good when it leads us to food. But no one rests in thirst or hunger. Without them, water and food are not desired; so, without exercises, Christ, the living Water and Bread of Life, is not desired. These exercises stir up longing desires for Christ and ultimately make him very precious to the soul.