
In his magnificent book, The Greatest Salesman in the World, Og Mandino had the student repeat a statement several times a day for 30 days. One such was, “I will form good habits and become their slave.” Og knew that whether you develop good or bad habits, you are the slave of habits. Choose a good master!
Jesus taught a lot about forming what we call good habits, and He demonstrated His habits of prayer, caring for others, freely giving love, maintaining a close walk with His Father, knowing and using the available scriptures as well as the habit of helping lepers and moral untouchables. He, at the hour of His passion, demonstrated the habit of forgiving the unforgiveable, when He uttered “Father forgive them.” There’s more, but you get the idea.
Lu 22:39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him.
There’s more than immediately meets the in the underlined and bolded phrase, as He was accustomed, in that the disciples followed Him. Note they followed His habit as well as His words. Example is and always will be the prime motivator in inspiring others to follow you.
Will Durant, noted author of the II volume The Story of Civilization, stated it this way:
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
There are basic actions to any profession. It is the willingness to develop a “habit” of perfecting the basic moves that separate the real pros from the mere plodders. I happened to slip into the family room over the weekend and The Great Blond was watching an old Lawrence Welk TV show. Jack Imel, the man who played the Marimba on the show, was being interviewed about how he learned to play and how Mr. Welk discovered him. He said playing the Marimba was really simple, but learning to play it with passion was a really big deal. He claimed that he practiced for at least 3 hours a day! For years he had the habit of practicing 3 hours every day.
Jesus gave us a pattern to practice. Most people practice the pattern at least once per month. Others a little bit more. Do you think a serious regular session with Jesus leading would make a difference in your daily walk? Could be.
Copyright © 2015 Larry Lilly
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