Luke #49 – A Good Habit

Luke #49 – A Good Habit

“And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read” (Luke 4:16 – King James Version).

When I was growing up there was absolutely no discussion about whether we liked the food that was put in front of us. If mama cooked it and put it on that table, we were going to eat it. For some reason I used to abhor lima beans. One time I tried to hide them under the edge of my plate; on the side opposite of my dad’s eyes. That didn’t work. I had to eat them and another helping before I was allowed to leave the table. You may think that was cruel, but I am actually thankful for those lessons. To this day I am not a picky eater. Eating what is put in front of me became habit.

This little verse fills in a lot of Jesus’ childhood years. We know that on the Sabbath Jesus was in the Synagogue because the Scripture says that was “His custom”. As I said in an earlier devotion, a lot of folks think there are a great many missing years in Jesus’ childhood, but that’s not entirely so. This Scripture takes care of about thirty years of Sabbath days.

There is something to be learned here. Making congregational activity a habit on the Sabbath is a good habit to get into. It will never be that if we don’t discipline our lives towards that. I hear too many parents today tell me that they give their children a choice about Sunday worship. That’s a bunch of mess! Teach a good habit! Have one yourself! A little personal testimony: if my family goes on vacation, one of two things are going to happen; we are either going to a worship service wherever we are or we will be home by Sunday morning. That’s that; end of discussion. You may say, “That’s different Tim; you work for the church.” So what? I didn’t always and that was our habit then and it will remain so. Weekend getaways? No problem; the same applies for our family…end of discussion. It is our habit and I believe it is a good one.

Another thing to be learned by the example of our Savior is participation. Christ got up to “read” Scripture during the worship time. Too many folks simply go to worship service on Sunday mornings without participating in the mission and ministries of the church. We need to be involved. We need to take part in ministering to others and take part in Kingdom work through our local church. Just sitting on the pew from 11:00-12:00 won’t cut it. If participation was good enough for Jesus, then it’s good enough for me!

Without reservation or condition make regular attendance and participation a good habit in your life. Good habits are usually tougher to begin, but begin they must to become a habit. What do I suggest? Let nothing outside family emergencies (real ones, not Aunt Gertie stumping her toe) or bad sickness stop you from going to worship service each week. Set a goal to not miss for the next six months. Most likely, you will have a habit that will stick after that. Also, research the ministries of your church; pray, asking God which He’d have you participate in; ask someone how to become involved. Bad habits are a dime a dozen. We need some good habits. Make attendance and participation good habits in your life.