May 12, 2004

[Kidan]

Quote[/b] ]If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful . . .
—2 Peter 1:

Quote[/b] ]When we first begin to form a habit, we are fully aware of it. There are times when we are aware of becoming virtuous and godly, but this awareness should only be a stage we quickly pass through as we grow spiritually. If we stop at this stage, we will develop a sense of spiritual pride. The right thing to do with godly habits is to immerse them in the life of the Lord until they become such a spontaneous expression of our lives that we are no longer aware of them. Our spiritual life continually causes us to focus our attention inwardly for the determined purpose of self-examination, because each of us has some qualities we have not yet added to our lives.

Your god may be your little Christian habit— the habit of prayer or Bible reading at certain times of your day. Watch how your Father will upset your schedule if you begin to worship your habit instead of what the habit symbolizes. We say, "I can’t do that right now; this is my time alone with God." No, this is your time alone with your habit. There is a quality that is still lacking in you. Identify your shortcoming and then look for opportunities to work into your life that missing quality.

Love means that there are no visible habits— that your habits are so immersed in the Lord that you practice them without realizing it. If you are consciously aware of your own holiness, you place limitations on yourself from doing certain things— things God is not restricting you from at all. This means there is a missing quality that needs to be added to your life. The only supernatural life is the life the Lord Jesus lived, and He was at home with God anywhere. Is there someplace where you are not at home with God? Then allow God to work through whatever that particular circumstance may be until you increase in Him, adding His qualities. Your life will then become the simple life of a child.

 

[Kidan]

This is a wonderfully subtle jab at the ritualistic aspect of so many churches and Christians.  

We all have our little things that we like to do.  Our little habits.  A specific way we perform a service.  First it's a song, then welcome, then another song, then offering, then another song, then prayer, then preaching, then a final song and some more prayer.  

Sunday after Sunday.  The same thing  Not to say that doing the same thing week after week is bad, it becomes bad when you, as a Christian, place the schedule over the worship.

If your pastor decided that before he did anything else, he preached.  Then it was 40 minutes of singing, prayer, and offering.  What would happen in your church?  how many people would get up after the preaching was over because they figured the service was done?

When church stops being an expression of your love of fellow Christians and God, then it has become an unbearable burden filling your Sunday mornings and evenings.  One that we rush away from as quickly as possible to get to that Sunday dinner or the game on tv.

Remember we gather togethor for a number of reasons. Among those reasons are for edification, for fellowship, to worship God, to pray and to learn.  These tasks should be joyful things for you as a Christian, not something to be skipped out upon whenever possible.

So today, think about your church habits.  Are you there for love or is church an incredibly boring burden?

Which do you want it to be?