We are creatures of habit… some of us more than others. Sometimes we see this as a positive thing and sometimes it can have negative connotations.
As Eagle Church enters into a season where we are being called to more intentional discipleship, it is crucial that we live everyday life with Jesus. We believe the invitation to live everyday life with Jesus is the greatest invitation a person could receive. We are invited to walk with him every day and find Him in the everyday routines and habits of our lives. To be the apprentice of Jesus assumes that we will stay close by the master and learn each step of the way.
Jesus had habits. When we study his life in Scripture, it tells us that Jesus went to the synagogue every Sabbath… “as was his custom” (Luke 4:16). He had a habit of loving people, being with them and teaching them when they gathered. He also had a habit of retreating after seasons of intense ministry to be alone with his Father in prayer and meditation. As his apprentices, his disciples followed him, learned from him as he taught them, allowed their hearts and their desires to be shaped by his mentoring, and willingly put into practice what they were learning so they could become more like their Master. The customs, habits and disciplines the disciples learned from Jesus were taught to the early Church, and the church exploded across the globe!
Can you even imagine what it would have been like to see Jesus’ life first-hand? For us, the story of Jesus is given with such vivid detail in Scripture, that we can experience the same thing they did IF we want it bad enough. We, as followers of Jesus, have the power of the Holy Spirit living inside us, and Jesus said that it was better that he left so the Holy Spirit could come (John 16:7) to help us become more like him and to empower us to help others know Jesus.
Do you ever experience a gap between what you know and what you do? Maybe it has something do to with the daily habits that have formed you. At stake is the formation of our souls. Grounding ourselves in daily spiritual practices will begin to show not only in what we think or believe, but in what we do… But also, we will begin to display what these habits and practices do to us!
It is like the things about us that become second nature to us. Jesus’ habits can be more like the things we begin to do without having to think about them. We can learn new spiritual habits that can become part of who we are, that become the new normal by incorporating them into our daily walk with Jesus, the Master teacher. But… it is a choice to do it every day. Jesus invites you into this soul forming journey, every day!