Habits are very powerful things. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, a habit is "a settled tendency or usual manner of behavior." We all have routines that we go through during our day, or our week. Oftentimes if we don't accomplish all we want to during that time span, then we have an empty feeling of incompleteness. Our habits control our thoughts, emotions, and physical actions. Our habits can either hurt us or harm us spiritually and physically. Habits prove that we are human and are simply part of our lives.
A few weeks ago I was presiding over the Lord's Table on a Sunday Evening at the Willow Avenue church of Christ. On Sunday evenings, Willow makes the emblems available to those who weren't able to attend Sunday morning worship. The emblems are placed in a children's classroom and two men preside over them. When it was time to offer thanks for the contribution, I started my prayer of thanks, however instead of saying "Bless the leadership of the Willow Avenue church of Christ as they oversee these funds." I said "Bless the leadership of the Chestnut (I caught myself) as they oversee these funds." I quickly realized that I got the two congregations mixed up and restated what I was trying to say with "Willow Avenue church of Christ." The lesson that I took from this, is that habit is a very strong and powerful thing. When does habit become too powerful and perhaps draw us away from our relationship with God? In today's blog article I ask you to consider the following four Spiritual items and how you can make them habits or better habits in your life.
Habit #1: Church Attendance, How often do we lay our heads down on Saturday nights and dread waking up early the next morning for worship services? How often do we wish the preacher wouldn't be so "long winded" and the songs and prayers were shorter? How often do we decide to stay home and watch the ball game instead of going to church? All of these factors influence our Christian lives, as well as our habits. If we allow ourselves to become conditioned to a point where our church attendance is an afterthought, then it will become hard to reverse that. On the other hand, if we allow ourselves to make it a "habit" to go to bed early, wake up early, and focus yourselves 100% on the worship service, then it will in turn be difficult to reverse that. In Hebrews 10:25, we are told not to "forsake the assembly." Make it a habit to attend worship services every time the doors of the building are open.
Habit #2: Prayer, The most intimate relationship that we can have with God is that of speaking to Him through prayer. Prayer is one of the easiest things to do, but yet we make it harder than it should be. Why is this? I believe that we simply don't make time for it. We live in a world where we are busy all the time. When we get home or to wherever we are going, we don't stop and think to pray. Our prayers don't have to be long and formal, but just a few words of thanks and requests for strength, or anything else on your mind will suffice. One thing that allows me to stop and think about God throughout the day is keeping a few of my favorite Bible verses in the notes app of my phone. I read these throughout the day and it helps me keep things in perspective. I also pray before I go to bed, and in the morning while I either walk or shower, sometimes at both times. The more effort that we put into making prayer a "habit" the easier it will be to "pray without ceasing" I Thessalonians 5:17.
Habit #3: Bible Study, When we need a clearer understanding of something that's going on in our lives, where do we go to find it? Do we turn to a "self help" book, or Google, or turn to the inspired Word of God? How often do we sit down and study God's Word in depth? Does it collect dust on our shelf from Sunday to Sunday? Did you know that the Bible is set up in a way that's easy for us to understand, yet we learn something new every time we read it? Why is it so hard to read and study it daily? Just like with prayer and church attendance, we live in a busy society. Oftentimes we barely have enough time to relax. Why not take those relaxing moments of the day and use them to study the Bible instead of watching TV and/or using your phone? Make it a "habit" to carve out a few minutes of your day to read at least one chapter of the Bible and I can assure you, that you will be blessed as a result. In II Timothy 2:15, we are commanded to "study to show ourselves approved unto God." Study provides us with much needed wisdom and understanding that will make us better, but others as well.
Habit #4: Evangelism, How do churches grow? The answer is simple, we evangelize. We take what we learn from attending worship and our personal Bible study and share it with others. We shouldn't keep this knowledge to ourselves, we should share it with others. I'm 100% confident that everyone reading this comes into contact with a person(s) that does not know God every day. It could be someone you work with, go to school with, the cashier at the gas station or the grocery store. We can share God's world with them directly by inviting them to services, but perhaps the most underrated way to evangelize is to show God by your actions and the way you treat people. A simple smile and a kind word can go a long way. Make this a "habit." In Mark 16:15, Jesus commands us as he's preparing to leave this earth to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." We do this not only by words and doctrine, but also by our actions.
Our habits are very powerful things and can be dangerous at times. We can either use these habits for good or bad. I challenge you this week and especially as we turn the page to 2020, to make sure your habits are spiritually minded. Friends, I love you, the Chestnut Mound church of Christ loves you, and most importantly God loves you. Are you looking to improve your habits in 2020? If so we would love for you to join our family here at Chestnut Mound. We are imperfect Christians, yet we love each other and love you. We would be honored by your presence!!
In Him,
Carver Moore
We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.
Our service times are as follows:
Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am
Sunday morning worship: 11 am
Sunday evening worship: 5 pm
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