What are Your Habits Spiritually?
We are creatures of habit, whether we think about it or not. You likely put socks on the same foot first each day. You start brushing your teeth at the same location in your mouth each day. The bank cashes your checks, for your signature habitually is the same. Our lives are filled with customs.
The same is true of individuals in the Bible. Pilate’s custom was to release a prisoner during the Passover feast, and he tried to use this custom to release Jesus (Matt. 27:15). The reason Joseph and Nicodemus wrapped the body of Jesus in strips of linen and spices was because that was the Jewish custom (John 19:40). It was also the Roman custom not to kill a person without them first having a trial (Acts 25:16).
Jesus’ custom was to pray. Jesus was a man of prayer, and there were times when He spent hours, sometimes the entire night, praying (Luke 6:12). The night He came walking on the water to the disciples, in the tempest on the Sea of Galilee, involved His prayer life. He sent them away in the boat so He might spend private time in prayer (Mark 6:45-46). Luke’s account of how He spent His last week before His death is interesting. “And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet” (Luke 21:37). Judas knew Jesus’ custom of praying and led the mob to Gethsemane. “Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him” (Luke 22:39). Jesus prayed often. Do you?
Jesus’ custom was to teach. A study of the life of the Master shows that teaching others was His habit in life. Whether it was the multitude which followed Him to the mount for His sermon there, or Zacchaeus in the tree, or the woman at the well, or those around the Sea of Galilee, His custom was to teach. Mark says, “And as He was accustomed, He taught them again” (Mark 10:1).
Jesus’ custom was to worship regularly. He went to the temple at age twelve, because His parents’ custom was to worship regularly (Luke 2:42). As an adult, His custom was to worship every Sabbath in the synagogue (Luke 4:16). The gospel accounts of His life shows He was always present at all the feasts. Jesus’ custom was to worship regularly. Do you?
There are others who have another custom. The Lord rebukes the custom of some in the first century. “Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb. 10:25). Some have the attitude that weekly worship is optional, but such is not the case. Jesus’ custom was to worship regularly. What is your custom? Some habitually neglected the meeting together. What is your custom?