Jesus Christ is our Savior, but He is also our Lord. As our Lord, He has truly great expectations of us, His disciples. He does not offer us suggestions; He gives us direct commands. His words are not merely good human advice, but are the words of our Creator speaking to us, His creation. With that in mind, consider afresh the height, the depth, and the width of just eight of His words of expectation of us:

“… do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)

“Forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Matthew 18:35)

“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

“No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62)

“… having done everything you were told to do, you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” (Luke 17:10)

“Stop judging by mere appearances.” (John 7:24)

“As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)

Any one of those expectations, standing alone by itself, would be – is – a daunting responsibility! Go back through the preceding, pick any one at random, and then linger over it, considering just how well you’re honestly doing with it.

Humbled? Me too.

Yes, His power works in us and on us toward all of this. Yes, His Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. But those truths do not alter the big question for us as His disciples: “If this is the shape my Lord expects me to be in, what exactly is my exercise program like?”

And that is why we all so deeply need to incorporate spiritual discipline of many kinds into our daily habits.