"How can a young man keep His pure, by living according to Your Word...I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You." Psalm 119:9,11
I recently needed to get a smog check, and it happened to be the same day that Day Light Saving Time started. As I sat waiting for my smog check, I started thinking about several routines in our lives: smog checks; dental visits; changing smoke alarm batteries; paying DMV for car registration; making life insurance and car insurance payments; filing tax returns; moving clocks forward one hour in the spring and then moving them back one hour in the fall; decorating for harvest, Christmas and Easter. Several of the routines come our way through communication from the government or some organization, but some of these are things we need to remember ourselves. These routines are important and there are consequences associated with not doing them on time.
Spiritually, we should have routines also. Spending time praising God for who He is and all He does. Confessing our sin and laying our burdens on Him. Thanking Him for His provisions and intercession in our lives and the incredible blessings he bestows on us, and even laying our requests before Him. When we balance these four ideas, we are doing a good job of balancing our relationship with Him - remembering who He is, what He has done, that He loves us, and what it is He can do.
Some other spiritual routines that change our lives are Listening to the Word of God, Reading the Word of God, Studying the Word of God, Memorizing the Word of God, and Meditating on the Word of God. I once heard someone say, "There is no need to memorize the Word of God, because it is right on my phone and I can look it up any time I want to read." My heart sunk as I realized how many people think of the Bible as a resource rather than a way of thinking. When we listen, read, study, memorize and meditate on the Word of God, it transfuses the way we think and the way we look at the world. Knowing the word transforms our minds and changes our values. Our heart develops a passion for knowing Him and acting like Him.
I have a dear friend who shared a phrase with me, "When we see the world through God's eyes, we fully mobilize." Our desire is to please Him and see our actions as a reflection of who He is, and that He is our Master, our Guide, our Strong Tower, and our Redeemer.
There is an acronym - WWJD, and it stands for What Would Jesus Do. There is another acronym WWJS, and it stands for What Would Jesus Say. These are great phrases and teachable moments, but I believe there is another acronym even more important - HCIDWJWDASWJWSIIDKWJDAWJS. Right know I bet you are a little stumped.
How Can I Do What Jesus Did And Say What Jesus Would Say, If I Don't Know What Jesus Did And What Jesus Said. Let's make it a routine to implant the Word of God in our hearts and in our heads.
