I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or your greatest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half of the things you do, you might as well turn over to me and I will do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed. You must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great people and alas of all failures as well. Those who are great I have made great. I am not a machine, though I work with the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a man. You may run me for profit or you may run me for ruin. It makes no difference to me. Take me, train me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you. Who am I? I am habit.
(Anonymous)
Knowing then, that we live by our habits, we need to choose the ones that will make a difference for eternity, rather than for the few short years we have to live in our earthly tent. The choice of habits will determine whether we hear “Well done, my good servant,”
(Luke 19:17) or we will hear that we “will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.” (I Corinthians 3:15) With the correct habits we will “receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (II Peter 2:11) If we choose the wrong habits, we will be “ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
(I Peter 1:8)
We are guided significantly by examining three habits of our Lord, each of which was needed to accomplish His work here on earth. They are simple to do, straight forward, and those which are open to everyone. None of them require special training or ability. They can be done regularly without any expense or travel. If done faithfully, we can be assured that our lives have made a difference, not just a blur. These three habits are those which are pleasing to God and mankind. Looking back on our lives in forty years, we would have thankfulness and contentment, knowing that we had chosen habits which were the best for our lives.
The first of these habits of our Lord is described in Luke 5:16. “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Time with the Father was a priority to our Lord. Luke 6:12 states that He spent the night praying prior to choosing His disciples the following day. His time with the Father was so striking to his disciples that they asked Him to teach them to pray! (Luke 11:1) One of the reasons Christ came was to reveal the Father. His ability to do this was dependent upon His time with the Father. In John 17, Jesus stated that we are sent as He was sent, which means that Christ is to be revealed in and through our lives. This will only occur if our time with Him is the leading priority of our lives. If it is, then we will echo the words of David in Psalm 63. “My soul thirsts for you,” “My soul clings to you,” and “My soul will be satisfied with the richest of foods.” This habit is the most important one of our lives. The only ability the Lord requires of us is our availability. He supplies all the rest.
The second habit which we see in the life of our Lord is found in Luke 4:16. “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.” His custom (habit) was to regularly attend the service of worship to God with others. There He could find other people with whom to minister and to be with. The house of God was a place of prayer which he frequented. We are likewise instructed that the regular fellowship with others is needed. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25) This verse states “some.” In today’s world, the word should be “many!” Some have had earlier experiences with a church which caused them to stop attending the rest of their lives. Others simply don’t attend because they have other priorities in their lives. Some, following the popular on-line presentation of the services, have continued to stay home and watch the worship service by themselves. Whatever the cause, they are short circuiting the work of God in and through their lives. It is a habit that leads them away from the Lord instead of toward the Lord.
The third habit that the Lord demonstrated was His constant association with people. He was so committed to investing in the lives of others that His relatives came to take charge of Him! In response to their concern it says, “Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mothers and my brothers!” (Mark 3:34) Mark records His involvement with many others at Levi’s house. “While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.” (Mark 2:15) Jesus Himself stated the following in Luke19:10. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” Are our lives those of involvement with others that He came to seek and to save? Do we make time to talk to our neighbors and those at our places of employment? These are the relationships in which the Lord desires to use us as salt and light.
These three habits of Christ’s are not His alone. He not only lived the life we could not live, and died the death we should have died, but He gives us the life we need to live. He Himself is our life. His habits are given to us via the Holy Spirit. It is through a close association with Him daily, seeking His will for every part of our lives that His habits will be made manifest in us. As we spend time with the Lord, with fellowship with the body of Christ, and time with others who we can influence for Christ, we can look forward to His voice saying, “Well done, my good servant.”
In Christ, Richard Spann