Discipline - The breakaway key

I'm reading through a book right now called "Meat for Men" by Leonard Ravenhill, and chapter 4, "The Harness of Discipline," broke through to me, because it described what I am not in many different ways. I am accomplished, and disciplined when need be, though I read through and realized that I can afford to really tighten the reins.

My biggest weakness is how easily I'm distracted, or lose track of something. For example, today at work I tried reviewing Greek in my head (the work is rote enough to where I can dual-focus), but it amazed me that it took no more than, I'm positive, ten seconds to forget the Greek and start thinking about something else.

I also realized that I do not have my learning schedule for Greek down-pat. If you want an exhaustive analysis of how I have been going about practicing and studying Greek, it looks like this:

Day 1: What do I feel like studying today?

Day 2: What do I feel like studying today?

Day 3: What do I feel like studying today?



That's about the furthest it's broken down.

And I forget that I have other things I'm trying to do. For one, I'm an accounting student, working towards an MBA with an Accounting focus, and my goal is to pass both the CPA and CFE exams my first time through, so I need to be thinking ahead for that.

In this sermon, Ravenhill talks about how a crucial item lacking in churches today is discipline. A time ago, when you became a new believer, you would get two books: A bible, and a book on discipline. Nowadays, you pretty much only get the former and not the latter. However, this is what separates the tenor from the choir boy.

Ravenill gives the story of an opera singer named Maria Callas, who was one of the most demanded opera singers of her time. She was the kind that managers would clamor for her signature, who had to hold the music business at arm's length. She was an opera superstar of her time. It wasn't always this way though; she had fought many battles to get there. She used to weight 250 lbs--in four months, she cut that down to 130. And she took that same discipline and applied it to her voice. It was no longer her begging for the audition, her seeking the contracts; as she grew and the world saw her disciplined talent, they came to her. That is what got her out of the choir.

With whatever you want to do, you have to be disciplined. Those who are diligent and disciplined are the ones who are at the forefront of the field, ahead of the game. Those who put in the average effort, get average results, and you're in the choir with everyone else.

One more quote:

The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight
But they, while their companions slept
Were toiling upward through the night

Soli Deo Gloria!

Jake