The Glory of the Ordinary

[pastor.travis]

“The Divine Shepherd guides the psalmist on the right trails, on ‘paths of righteousness.’ These are the ‘righteous ruts’ or tracks that lead us safely out to pasture and home again.”

The Radical believer who is willing to Do Hard Things and has Crazy Love for God certainly receives a fair bit of coverage today. Rightly understood, each of the books alluded to above (written by good and Godly men I am sure) are simply exhorting Christians to a life of uncompromised faithfulness. However, my interactions with younger evangelicals suggest that our celebrity-driven culture might twist the ways we view such encouragement. Instead of a rock-solid faithfulness to the core teaching and practice of Christianity, we feel a need to be greater than we are, accomplishing profound or outrageous feats of faith in out of the way places and cultures.

Into this misunderstanding, I am grateful for Dr. Laniak’s reference to the “righteous ruts” of Christianity. Holy habits are a lost art in the Christian life. The simple means of grace – while admittedly lacking in flash and excitement – are the God-given roadmap to holiness and a Christ-pleasing life. Father, help me to delight once again in the ordinary prayer, Scripture reading, tithing, evangelizing, and serving which is so near to your own heart. Help me to delight in this, that I may lead your sheep down these same “paths of righteousness.”