Unstraightforward living

I use McCheyne's Bible reading plan to read through the Bible every year. Highly recommend it.

I have noticed recently that in each of the four chapters I am reading that the different characters - all from different times in biblical history - are continually facing problems and difficulties like barrenness, critical and malicious leaders, tyrannical kings. And that's because they are doing God's will! This Christian life was never meant to be straightforward!

You can get McCheyne's plan here

Duty, discipline and legalism

The Between Two Worlds blogsite has a very thoughtful post on duty and legalism by John Piper.

There is a tendency in the church today to dismiss duty as some sort of manifestation of legalism. The result is sometimes, perhaps often, that we ditch disciplined Bible reading and prayer as "legalistic". Unfortunately in our desire to avoid what we mistakenly think to be a legalistic approach to prayer and Bible reading, we don't get around to doing much of either. Devotional practice becomes spasmodic rather than habitual.

You can read what Piper has to say here