Critters of Habits

Acts 14:1

One thing that is as sure as death and taxes is that each of us is a critter of habits; some are good habits like eating broccoli and carrots, and others not so good, like wanting lots of salt and sugar.  Habits can best be defined as regularly repeated behavior patterns, and they are shaped by the customs and the traditions we are raised in.   Things that become patterns shape our behavior, our conduct, and our attitude and they are not easily changed. 

So even though Paul and Barnabas told the people of Antioch, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you.  Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.”  (Acts 13:46b)  When reading the Scriptures watch out for the trap of thinking these apostles were not people of habits, they were and the habit of a Jew such as Paul was to go to the synagogue.   So when he and Barnabas entered Iconium they went to the synagogue and spoke in such a way that great numbers of both Jews and Greeks believed.

What a message to you and me, they shared about what had happened to them because of Jesus Christ, and in the past, we called this witnessing to their faith, but that is not in vogue, so let’s just say that as they went they talked about what had changed their life.  Has anything happen in your life that is worth telling someone else, and I’m not referring to the new stuff you got, it soon will be out dated, but these two guys were talking about a person who had given them life, joy, and peace in the middle of persecution, now if that has happened to you, is that not worth sharing?

I was 27 years a Baptist, and I was somewhat proud of being a Baptist, but then I met Jesus in a hotel room and what I read in the Scriptures was not a new message, in fact, it was so simple but it was still so radical, so simple that it took me 27 years to give up on what I could do for God to earn His acceptance, and by faith receive the gift of life.  Guys, have you noticed that the world is centered in pleasure, in deception, and the end is often broken marriages and families.  People want and they do not get so they take what is not earned and they even kill in doing this.  Businessmen cut corners to make a profit, and politicians lie to keep power and guess what Christians who have let the world’s system mold them, fall into these same traps and bring shame on the name of our Lord.

In the book of James, Christians are warned about falling into the habits of a worldly system: “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”  (James 4:1-4 ESV)  How can this happen, in the same way Paul went first to the synagogue, it was a habit, and many of us have not changed the habits that bring shame on Christ, but James has given this insight into what is needed, in every follower of Christ; “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

(Ephesians 4:22-24 ESV)

There are habits that have deep roots in our lives when we came to Christ, mine was fear of failure in business, in marriage, in being a dad, and I had to come to the point of bowing my knee and asking my Father to replace fear with faith, it has been a long journey, but God is faithful.  So I must give a good report, Jesus Christ has been faithful to me, even when I have turned my back on His authority.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice