ON THE VANGUARD

HABIT MAKING
“But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.”
Psalm 1:2

I have often heard it said that it takes only twenty-one days to form a habit. If you Google this idea, you may actually find a variety of answers ranging from twenty-one to sixty-six days, and the timeframe ranging based on the type of habit you are trying to form. One psychologist I found stated that if your goal in life is to drink more water, then the smaller number of days may just be true. However, if your goal is to do fifty sit-ups before breakfast, the timeframe may be greater. I have found this to be true myself. As I have continued in my walking toward 500 miles this summer, I have found it becoming easier to accomplish. Where once the complaints and excuses were present, I now found myself antsy and pacing the floor if I cannot get out of the house to walk. But it has taken sixty-seven days to get to this point.
The reason I bring the idea of habits to our attention today has much to do with what I felt God showing me just yesterday while out walking. Many times this year I have challenged our devotion toward God. Last night, though, I felt God challenging me in my devotion. It isn’t that I have slipped off the God wagon or anything, but I feel like God has been desiring to work in me in a few areas since returning from my vacation to Texas. One such area is my personal relationship with Him. Don’t get me wrong, I find that much of what I share with you in these devotionals is from God. But sometimes God wants to tweak a few areas in us so that we can be better used and fit for ministry. This is the place I now find myself. And this is the best place to be.
I want to be putty in the hands of God, but I cannot be this if I do not give myself over to His molding. In essence, this is what I feel is being spoken of in Psalm 1. In verse 1 we are told that it is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand where sinners stand, nor sit where mockers sit, that receives blessing. Verse 2 further explains that, “his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.” This idea is finished up in verse 3 where it is stated that this man is then like a tree planted by the streams, yielding fruit, and constantly prospering. It is this man that I desire to be. But to be this, I must first start with making a habit of meditating day and night in the law of the LORD.
Today is a great day to start a habit. We are fresh into a new month. Now while I cannot say that come August 21 I will be set in my ways of making time with God commonplace, I do hope to find that I am closer to a habit than I am right now. I want to find that same antsy feeling of not taking time to study His Word that I find when I am not out walking daily. But just as with the habit of walking, the beginning is tough. I will find complaints and excuses in meeting with God just as easy. I will find other things wanting my time and attention such as television, work, sleep, and who knows what else. But I want to be in right relationship with God, and because of that I need to force myself to meditate until it does become habit. And how about you? Are you willing to join me, starting today, to ward off the things that have kept us from time with God so that we can delight in what truly matters instead of what doesn’t? If so, then join me now. What better time to start than today?