Up until about two and a half years ago, my spiritual life was like one big roller coaster ride. I would constantly flip back and forth between serving the Lord and serving myself, and I never stayed in the same place for very long. But then, in January of '08, I had a life-changing experience with God and I've since found that commitment I once lacked.

Since that day, my life has changed drastically. I have no desire of any kind to return to the ways of this world, and to be honest, I've done almost everything imaginable to ensure that I don't. Sounds good, right? To an extent, it is; but we've got be careful that we steer clear of the idea that we can somehow earn God's love. Let me explain:

After I truly gave my life to God, I developed a very systematic routine of serving Him. I decided on an amount of time I wanted to spend praying every day, and would actually mark down my new daily total after I spent any amount of time in prayer. I also had a daily quota when it came to Bible reading, Scripture memorization, and a set number of minutes I had to spend reviewing past memory verses. If, at the end of the day, I had completed my "to do list", I considered it a good day; if otherwise, I felt almost as if I had sinned and vowed to do better next time.

I looked at my routine as a sort of "safety net." I told myself that if I began to drift from God, my prayer schedule, Bible reading plan, etc., would keep me from drifting too far. Rather than depending on the Lord to catch me when I fall, I depended on my self-imposed rules to keep me in line. I guess I thought it was impossible to drift from God if you were being so careful to make Him a part of every day. I was wrong.

I've discovered that my legalistic view of how I could please God was anything but a safety net; it was a stumblingblock. Instead of keeping me in line, these rules only served to burn me out spiritually and cause me to drift from the Lord - the very thing I was trying to avoid.

Routines are by no means sinful; in fact, I plan on carrying on with much of the routine I've developed. But instead of going to bed asking myself, "How much time did I spend praying today?", I will now ask, "Do you think God is pleased with how you spent your day?"  Rather than asking, "How many chapters of the Bible did you read today, and what is your weekly total of memorized verses?", I'll be asking myself, "What did you learn from your Bible studies today, and how can you make sure you are a doer of the Word, and not a hearer only?" 

The reason I write this is not to encourage you to abandon all of your spiritual disciplines. But I am asking you to examine your heart and see if perhaps you are depending on good works more than you are depending on grace. Take my word for it, it doesn't work.

"Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"

                            -Galatians 3:3