THE DELIGHT OF DISCOVERY:
It is gloriously true that because of the finished work of Christ and our union with Him in His finished work, that we begin the Christian life full. We have been made complete in Him and therefore we don’t live the Christian life, even at the start, wanting to get more, instead, we live the Christian life celebrating the all that we have in Christ.
If this is true, then what is the point of spiritual disciplines. Why do we seek if it’s not to get more? Why do we fast? etc. I would suggest that because we already have the ALL, we are even more motivated to exercise the spiritual disciplines, because even though it’s not about getting more, it is about getting hold of the more that you already have. The disciplines are treasure maps from God that are escorts in the delightful discovery of all the unfathomable riches of Christ that we POSSES. Yes, we have it all because we have Him, and He IS ALL and IN ALL, though WE might not yet PARTICIPATE in all of the ALL.
If you’ve ever seen the movie “National Treasure,” then you remember that towards the end of the movie, that is filled with adventurous and delightful searching, they break into this large room full of limitless treasures worth unspeakable amounts of money. When they opened that door and saw all those glistening treasures in this huge, huge treasure room, they didn’t just say, “Good, we now have it.” Instead, they rushed into the room to see and discover all that they now had. Every fresh discovery was an extraordinary delight and the joy only built as they ran from one part of the room to the other in endless discovery. This is at the heart of the disciplines in the Christian life. They are delightful disciplines because they’re all about the discovery of an endless treasure that is ours in Christ. Each new discovery becomes a heightened motivation to do whatever it takes to seek more, so that we can see more, so that we can take hold of more. The disciplines are a gleeful treasure discovery.