Daily Walk Through the New Testament
November 27
Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:22

Discipline is perhaps the most hated word in the Christian vocabulary. Many of us are not disciplined in our business deals, entertainment, or language. We all want our ticket to heaven stamped, but we don’t want to be bothered with Christian disciplines while on our journey there.
Discipline is an inside job — it cannot be done by proxy. Only you can discipline yourself! D.L. Moody once said, “The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.” That statement is an encouragement to be disciplined in Bible reading, and it’s true of other spiritual disciplines as well (“Prayer will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from prayer.” “A Bible-preaching church will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from a Bible-preaching church.”)
We do not want to follow the example of the Israelites, with whom “God was not well pleased” (10:5). They were idolaters, adulterers, tempters, and complainers. They did not heed Moses’ commands not to do evil in God’s sight. Paul said we are all both capable of sin and of escaping sin (10:12-13). You can fall, but you don’t have to! You can be a victim of sin, or you can be a victor over sin! It takes discipline, it takes saying no to the flesh, and it takes relying on the help of the Holy Spirit.
Like Paul, discipline your body and your spirit, bring them into subjection, and be temperate in all things.