Goodmorning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
We have an orange cat in our home named Timmy, who has some pretty normal routines throughout his day. As soon as the lights go out for the night, he will normally come over and curl up on my bed. When you get up early in the morning, you will find him perched high upon one of my stereo speakers, staring intently into the woods through the living room window. Whenever his food dish runs out, he will begin following you all over the house.
But he has one peculiar habit that appears each time he hears you fill up his food dish. When he knows that his food is coming, he will quickly run over to his feeding area. As he waits patiently, his tail will stand up perfectly straight and motionless, except for the very last inch that he will rattle furiously like a rattlesnake who’s on his guard.
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
If you were to examine every moment of your life for the last year, you will find things that you did regularly every single day. You might get up each morning and make yourself a hot cup of coffee. You might check the mailbox before leaving for work. You might do a crossword puzzle while having your lunch. You might even brush your teeth before going to bed. This is because we are creatures of habit. But this must be used to our advantage. As a Christian, we must develop good habits, insomuch that they become a regular pattern in our daily lives.
“In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,” Titus 2:7
A pattern is something that is repeated over and over again. Somebody who plays drums will repeat a specific drum pattern to a certain song that they perform. Many poets will repeat a definite pattern in the poetry that they write. I had a large quilt that was made from five or six different colors, which were repeated in a pattern throughout the entire blanket. We can find patterns all around us, especially in our daily routines. They have been taught to us since our birth. We have been trained since our youth to do things again and again until they become so ingrained in our mind that they become second nature to us.
At school, we learn to change classes at the ringing of the bell. At home, we learn to put our dirty dishes in the sink when we’re done eating. We learn not to talk when we’re chewing our food. These things begin in the early stages of our life, and if planted deep enough, they can remain firmly embedded in our minds for many years. But there is a good side and a downside to routines. They can be helpful or harmful, depending on what they are. Sometimes they can greatly benefit your life and your service towards God, but on the other hand, bad habits can lead you down a spiraling staircase of habitual sinfulness.
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” Romans 6:1
Bad routines can produce very negative consequences, grabbing hold of somebody, and pulling them down into the dirt and the mud. Each repetitive day of poor choices only becomes another link in a long chain of sorrow. Instead of bringing forth a pattern of good works, they perpetuate harmful ones, hurting not only themselves but others around them. Like an animal caught in a snare, people can become trapped in bad routines, stuck in a routine of repetitive actions that produce no benefit for their life.
When I was growing up we used to have an old record player down in the basement. Records were kind of expensive in those days, so we didn’t have very many, and the ones that we did weren’t in very good shape. There were so many scratches in them that the needle would not stay in the groove. It would skip and repeat the same section over and over again, until it was so sickening that you had to finally get up and shut it off. Sin can do the same thing in our lives. They can become a reoccurring event, like weeds springing up from freshly cut lawn. This is why we must develop good patterns in our daily lives, ones that are found throughout the teachings of scripture. We must continue in them, which will not only result in a fruitful life, but our own salvation.
“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” 1 Timothy 4:16
The more that we do something, the more we can become set in our ways. Habits can be like pouring concrete. The longer that we abide in a certain routine, the more set in the pattern you become. For example….
How many of you have driven the same way to work for the last twenty years You drive the same dirt road, connecting you with the same old highway, which takes you to the same city street, that brings you to your place of employment. It is a daily routine that never changes. When you ride a city bus, they take the same route over and over again, a pattern which becomes so ingrained in their mind that they could do it in their sleep. But then one day, the city decides to rip out the street, and the state begins tearing up the highway. They have some new routes and intersections that they are putting in. All of a sudden, all of those things that you have done on a regular basis for so many years come to a grinding halt, and you will need to change your routine. You will need to take a different direction than the one you have become so accustomed to driving.
The sinful life is like a road of routine, one that you have driven for many years, but as a Christian we must change things up. We must take a different path, one that is found through the teachings of Jesus Christ.
“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12
The life of the Christian is about developing and maintaining good routines and habits, which greatly differ from the ones that we had in our past. Rather than walk in darkness, we must routinely walk in the light.
The Apostle Paul wrote a lot of the New Testament that we have today, and his life is one of the greatest examples of conversion. In the past, his daily routine was trying to stop the spread of Christianity. His daily routine was trying to prevent people from worshiping Christ. His daily routine was putting them in prison. But when he became converted on the road to Damascus, those activities all came to an abrupt end. Instead of breaking up churches, he began to start them. Instead of scattering the sheep he was gathering them together. His life did a complete 180. Everything that he had become so accustomed to doing, he completely gave up, renouncing the “ chief of sinners “ that he used to be.
It’s been said that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but that’s not always the case. It depends on if you possess a willing heart and a ready mind. Even an old sinner can take a new direction in his life, it just requires letting go of destructive routines, and establishing new ones through Christ. I thank God for Paul, because his transformation brings great hope to each of us. God’s grace provides us with an opportunity to take a new direction, and embrace new routines.
Sinners can become saints, and just like Paul, they just need to focus on a pattern of good works. Think of all the good things that we can do, when we refocus our hearts on Christ. After all, good routines are hard to break, and God created us as….
……Creatures of Habit
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
tlkjbc.com
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 