What If We Practiced This

Dr. David W. Hall:

Some Christians have become so allergic to work or effort that they blanch at the prospect of practice, virtually cursing any kind of effort as a legalistic bogeyman of some sort. However, it’s no mistake that the competitors for this year’s Super Bowl practice—a lot. Imagine a player from the Seahawks or Patriots who tried to tell his coach, ‘You know, we’ve done this before—lots of times—I could get burnt out. It’s fairly legalistic to practice, especially when it hurts.’ In other words, what percentage of practice antinomians do you think were in the Super Bowl? Practice is needed.

It’s no accident that other professions do the same. A doctor is in a medical PRACTICE. An attorney has a law PRACTICE. Maybe instead of speaking of application we should call for practice. I wonder if our sermons might not be better if we practiced what they call for. And instead of whining that one has not been spoon-fed enough application or handed fill-in-the blank sheets, maybe shepherds need to be more consistent in urging sheep to practice the Word that they hear, lest we look in a mirror and walk away disheveled (James 1:23-25).

Source: What If We Practiced This | Place for Truth – Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals