My guess is that there are things you do every day. Some of these are physical things. Brush your teeth, shower, make the bed, EAT! And there may be some things you do everyday that are meant to express emotion; hug or kiss your spouse, tell someone you love them, speak a kind word. There are some things we seem to naturally do every day.
In the same way, I think there was certain spiritual things we are meant to do every day. Virtually every day I spend a few moments reading the Bible. It doesn't take a tremendous amount of time, but it keeps me consistently in the Word of God. And even though I've read through the Bible a number of times over the years, every day it seems like God reveals something new to me. I see something in a passage that I hadn't noticed before. Or it speaks to me in a new way in light of what I am going through or experiencing at that time.
The other thing I try to do every day is take some time in prayer. To be honest, some days it's just a few minutes. Other days I may spend a little more time. But the important thing to me is that it is every day. Daily prayer keeps me connected to God. It helps me stay grounded. It encourages me, and helps me to rely more fully on God every day.
I'm convinced that one of the keys to growing deeper in Christ is our daily practices. I would not go six days without a shower and then take a really long shower on the seventh day. I wouldn’t binge eat one day and then go without food for six. There are some things in life that were meant to be consistent, daily. I believe that is particularly important in our spiritual lives.
Of course there are spiritual practices we do at other intervals. We gather as the family of God to worship once a week. I believe a consistent weekly rhythm of worship is also essential for our spiritual growth. But if the only way we're being fed spiritually is once a week in worship, we will not be as spiritually strong and healthy as we would want to be, as we need to be, to live out this life of faith God has invited us into.
At the beginning of the year we gave out bookmarks to remind and encourage us to pray every day. I hope you are still keeping yours in a visible place. I hope you are working through the five areas. And I hope you are doing it every day. I am fully convinced that daily time with God is the bedrock of a strong and growing faith.
God bless, Pastor Steve
BTW, don’t forget that this Saturday is our For Our Community Day of Serving. It’s not to late to sign up at this link. ALSO, THIS YEAR WE ARE DOING A FOOD COLLECTION AT EVERY PROJECT. So we are encouraging every participant to bring a non-perishable food item to the work site with them Saturday morning.