Developing Habits
Watching a football match played by professionals can be a delight; it appears effortless. Yet no-one can ignore that the ability is only acquired through many years of regular and consistent practice. An athlete displays the same ease and familiarity in their particular sphere, with graceful movement resulting from constant and devoted training. The commitment given by musicians and sportsmen to their pursuits can be almost religious in its fervour; their whole way of life is given over to a pursuit of perfection in their particular field.
We are reminded of the Olympic Games first held in Athens whenever we see the modern Games. They were already in existence when the New Testament was being written. Nowadays, sportsmen and sportswomen from all round the world have focused their minds on the challenge ahead in order to take part, and stick rigidly to a strict timetable in order to ensure that they reach the peak of fitness and ability when the Games are held.
Yet that same athletic world seems very different if he or she has not been able to practice or train over a long period of time. Skills quickly grow rusty, the body loses its agility; ease and grace are replaced by awkwardness and unfamiliarity. Only a period of hard work and diligent application will restore the abilities that once seemed so effortless.
The apostle Paul used the example of the athlete to stress the importance of the single-minded dedication required of those who yearn for an everlasting reward. “Every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown: but we an incorruptible” (1 Cor 9:25). Is it possible therefore that there are also spiritual lessons to be learned from such dedication when it is no longer applied? Our familiarity with scripture and the message of God’s word will soon grow rusty through lack of diligence given to reading and meditating on its wonders. Unfortunately, this can be seen in the brother or sister who begins to spend more time on other things, perhaps because of commitments and responsibilities in workplace or family.
As less time is spent in godly pursuits, more time is available during which the temptations of the world can exert great pressures. Jesus said that a man’s treasure is where his heart is (Matt 6:21), and he was warning against allowing our hearts to be drawn aside to other things.
The apostle made it abundantly clear to the Hebrews: “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together” (Heb 10:25). Indeed, every opportunity for meeting one’s brethren and sisters should be grasped with both hands, particularly in view of the imminent return of our Lord. There is also a further difference. The Lord has promised to be with, and to support, his disciples at all times: “Lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world” (Matt 28:20). A greater consciousness of the nearness of our Lord would surely make a difference.
Bro David & Sis Jacklyne Wanjala(Makonye, Kenya)
