As Is The Habit Of Some

by Chris Simmons

Our eternal destiny has much less to do with grand and climactic moments in our lives than it does in regards to the seemingly insignificant habits of our everyday lives. It is the things that we do everyday, our daily habits and practices, which will ultimately define our lives. This is not to say that there are not some key choices that we each will make in our lives – most important of which is, “Will I choose to obey the gospel and become a child of God?” But having made that choice, our success will only be achieved if our habits are what they should be. This will be addressed again later, but notice that Paul spoke of a bad “habit” that some of the Hebrew brethren needed to change in Hebrews 10:24-25, when he said, “let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.” Our habits are important!

Our English word “habit” is defined as, “customary practice or use…an acquired behavior pattern” (Webster’s). In the Greek, the word “ethos” is simply defined as “a usage (prescribed by habit or law)” (Strong’s). Habits are simply those things that we do repeatedly in our lives, whether we are aware of them or not. The truth is, we become what we repeatedly do.

Bad habits need to be identified and stopped and good habits need to taught and implemented in our lives. This process of ending bad habits and beginning good habits is not easy and in fact can be very difficult. When Paul wrote to the brethren in Colossae, he talked of their need to make such changes. He spoke in Colossians 3:7-15 of the sinful habits in which they “once walked” which they were to “put…all aside” and then of the godly traits that they were to “put on.” Changing our habits will only be accomplished when we learn to prioritize our long terms goals and success over our near term comfort and pleasure. This is what Paul talked about in II Corinthians 4:16-5:10 as he described the need to focus our life on the “eternal” rather than the “temporal” which then translates to the habits in our life when he said “for we walk by faith and not by sight.” A great deal of money is spent by those in business to learn the habits of those who are very successful. Should we not concern ourselves much more with learning from the word of God those habits that will enable us to be spiritually successful? What are the daily habits of the spiritually successful?

We need to make it our habit to spend time reading and studying the word of God everyday. God has promised that His scriptures are able to make us everything we need to be (II Timothy 3:16-17) but we must be “diligent” to study it (II Timothy 2:15) and examine “the scriptures daily” as the Bereans did (Acts 17:11). There is immeasurable value in having a habit of reading and meditating on God’s word everyday. David describes the spiritually prosperous person in Psalms 1:2-3, “his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.”

We need our own personal time with God’s word just as families need to have the habit of reading and discussing God’s word everyday. To “bring them (our children) up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4) requires that we have the habit of reading and providing instruction in God’s word everyday to our children. Though the Bible classes that are provided for our children when we assemble together will never suffice in and of themselves in raising faithful children, successful parents will have the habit of making sure their children never miss those classes, understand the importance of those classes (being more important than their secular education) and prepare for those classes.

Another habit of those who are successful spiritually is to study with the goal of being able to commit certain key scriptures to memory so that in time of temptation or in defense of our faith, we might be able to call the right passage to mind. Peter said in II Peter 1:13-15, “And I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you may be able to call these things to mind.”

Another habit of the spiritually successful is never missing the assembling of the saints. As noted earlier in Hebrews 10:24-25, there were some brethren then, just as there are some brethren now, who have a bad habit of not assembling together with the saints whenever there is a scriptural opportunity to do so. The word “forsake” in that passage has an interesting meaning. It is a word which has both a positive and negative connotation, depending on its use and Strong defines that word to mean, in the negative sense (as the context demands here), “to desert.” To have the “habit” of forsaking the assembly is to literally desert, not only the Lord, but your fellow brethren as well. Certainly there are times of illness or injury which may prevent us from time to time from joining the assembly, but we should never have the habit of looking for an excuse as to why we don’t have to go (i.e., “I need to make sure I feel well enough to go to work”). Members of a family should never have to ask the question, “Are we going to church today?” because it should be their habit that they are always going to be there whenever the doors are open.

These are only a couple of the habits that we must make sure are present in our lives if we hope to attain to the eternal reward.