Habits To Be Made
Today I want to take a brief moment and have us all reflect upon our spiritual walk. There are times when our growth as Christians seems stunted or that we are simply standing still. This is not a place that we need to stay in, we should constantly be striving to grow in our walk. While you have probably heard us mention that sin can be a cause for us to not grow, we also need to reflect upon our spiritual habits. Our spiritual health is built upon establishing spiritual disciple and habits and our daily habits can reflect our spiritual walk.
The first spiritual habit we should create is to meditate on God’s Word. We often hear that we need to empty our minds, that we should focus inward to find peace. This is not the case for a Christian. We are called to reflect on God’s Word, “6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:6-9 and again in Hebrews 10:16 ““This is the covenant which I will make with them After those days, declares the Lord: I will put My laws upon their hearts, And write them on their mind,””. If we wish to grow in our walk with God, we need to focus on His Word. Scripture needs to be inscribed on our hearts and minds so that we can easily recall them at any time. A.W. Tozer puts it this way “We were not given the Bible as a substitute for God until we get to heaven. Rather, the Bible is to lead us straight into the heart and mind of God.” The more we study His Word, the more we come to understand Him.
Another spiritual habit that is needed is to know when to sit still. This world if busy, there is always something going on; something to read, something to do, something to distract us. We often get so caught up in our busy schedules that we don’t sit still until we go to sleep, and sometimes not even then as our dreams are plagued by what we still need to get done. As Christians, we should not be busy for busy sake. Activity for activity's sake hinders us from really getting to know God as He desires to reveal Himself. We need to take time to sit and listen to what God is telling us. “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10.
There is a warning here as well. While we are called to be still and listen to the Lord, this is not an excuse to be idle. In the end we still have the great commission to fulfill “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” Matthew 28:18-20. God does not view those who have opportunity to do work but choose not to in a positive manner. Be spiritual or in earthly work, God calls us to know when to work and to be active in it. “I passed by the field of a lazy one, And by the vineyard of a person lacking sense, 31 And behold, it was completely overgrown with weeds; Its surface was covered with weeds, And its stone wall was broken down. 32 When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked, and received instruction. 33 “A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest,” 34 Then your poverty will come like a drifter, And your need like an armed man.” Proverbs 24:30-34 is just one such example. A healthy Christian walk will understand the times to be active and the times to wait upon the Lord for His guidance.
There is also a habit of expectancy that should be involved in our Christian walk. Often times we believe that our walk and life is boring, this dull sense of the Christian faith poses itself with the issue of not being in the presence of God. When we believe that our walk is dull it is hard for us to seek after God and the Bible simply becomes words on a page. We then forget that we have a living God who provides for us and actively wants us to seek after Him. “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.” Proverbs 8:17. We are called to seek after God, “13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 if we are not actively reflecting on how God has shown Himself to us daily, how can we become excited to continue to walk with Him? We must discipline ourselves to come to the Word with excitement and anticipation to meet with God. When we start each day seeking God’s presence and continue to search for Him throughout our day, we then are able to recognize when God is guiding us. When we do this our walk is no longer boring, but instead active and exciting as we learn more about our God. Examine the Bible and you will find not one verse declaring the Christian walk to be boring; but rather through Genisis to Revelation, you will see example after example of a walk with God being our greatest adventure on both sides of the grave.
Hopefully as you reflect on your own Christian walk, you can see habits that are good to keep but also the ones that need to be corrected if you wish to grow in your knowledge of God. I know for myself whenever I reflect on my Christian walk, I see areas that I do well in as well as areas that I need to continue to work at. However, if we take these spiritual habits seriously, we will see that the Christian walk is not meant to be boring but instead filled with the anticipation of understanding our Lord and Savior better.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex