Spiritual Growth Incrementally; Becoming New Wine Skins, New Bottles

While seeking the Lord this morning, I pondered two converging thoughts. The first was about how “new wine must be put into new bottles” from Mark 2:22 and the deceptively simple power of incremental change.

Let’s say that I’ve been overweight for years. But in January, I decide to skip having dessert with every meal. That single change may result in a net loss of one pound per week. Hardly noticeable in the first month, but around the first official day of Summer, I’ll be about 24 lbs lighter. That will be noticeable! But those are just numbers. 

Let’s discuss the collateral impact behind those numbers and how they can stack up. How will being 24 lbs lighter affect my:

• Overall energy level?

• Sleep?

• Mood and how I feel about myself?

• Work performance?

• Interactions with others?

As someone who loves to eat, I know how hard it is to put the fork down. I know how difficult it is to be patient with the process. I didn’t pack it on overnight, and it’s not going away overnight.

I also know how amazing it feels to drop 20 lbs. Having more energy is terrific, my clothes fit better, and hearing compliments from caring friends and family is so very uplifting. 

All because I decided to pass on eating a dessert or two. 

That one decision backed with a little moderation and willpower brought about other positive changes in nearly every area of my life.

I believe this is a natural example of what happens to us spiritually. Small changes here and there over time will allow us to hear better, see more clearly, and sharpen our discernment.

Start With Five And Grow To More

Let’s consider prayer. Many of us don’t pray daily, though we all know we should. It’s too easy to prioritize other things over prayer, even though prayer has so many benefits (check out some of those benefits here).

Some of us set unrealistically high goals. We endeavor to pray an hour a day because we read that in the Bible somewhere. So in a moment of excitement, we strap that on their back, and away we go.

But by day two, we just can’t. We’re not ready for that level of commitment. We can’t stay awake or stay off social media that long. Instead of scaling back to something we can do, we quit and beat ourselves up (Let’s have some pie. That’ll make us feel better!)

How about we set ourselves up for success through small, incremental changes instead? 

Five minutes of prayer and praising God daily is better than 30 minutes of prayer once weekly. An easy way to double that is to pray five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening.

I used to use a timer set for 15 minutes so that I wouldn’t pray any less than 15 minutes. More often than not, when the alarm sounded, I’d turn it off and keep going, especially if I was praying in the spirit. Praying an hour a day is much more realistic for me because I started small and built up to it. 

Let your time alone with the Lord grow and become your own. You’re building a relationship that will change you and doesn’t have to be like anyone else’s, nor does it have to be an hour at a time. 

Grow In The Word Little By Little Every Day

My growth and knowledge of the scriptures happened very similar to prayer. I discovered The One Year Bible, and through incremental 15-minute daily readings, I’ve read the entire Bible in a year and done it for several years. I hear his voice more clearly and grasp revelation better than I did when I only read the Bible on Sundays at church.

“O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. - Psalm 119:97-101

Celebrate The Small Victories Because They Are Important

These little daily changes stack up and will have a compounding effect on your life! Your capacity for spiritual things will grow, and you’ll become that new bottle that can hold new wine. The Lord can share things with you that others won’t or can’t receive.

I’ve often thought about Peter, James, and John, the three disciples who seemed closer to Jesus and experienced more than the other nine. They were the only ones who:

• Went in with Jesus to raise a dead girl to life (Mark 5)

• Witnessed Christ’s transfiguration (Matt 17)

• Went further with Jesus into the garden to pray (Mark 14)

Why is that? Were these three men more special than the others? I don’t think so, and the Bible doesn’t say. But I wonder if it was as simple as they wanted to be more involved. Not a lot more, just a little more. Maybe when Jesus said something like, “I’m gonna climb that hill over there,” nine heard a statement, but Peter, James, and John heard an invitation—and went with him.