Oct 20 – HABIT AND CUSTOM!

“…..we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there” (Acts 16:13).
A riverbed was the venue for Paul the Apostle to pray regularly. Many people began to come running to that place. They came to him to find a way out for their problems and get comforted in sad situations. So, Paul the Apostle used that venue not only for praying but also for preaching.
It was a custom for Jesus Christ to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath Day (Luke 4:16). He also regularly went to Mount Olives for praying (Luke 22:39). He also went about regularly doing good things to people and healing the sick (Acts 10:38).
The basis for an activity to become a habit or custom is the individual himself. When a thing is habitually done, it naturally becomes a custom. Some people will purposefully indulge in habitual sinning and later sadly say that sinning had unknowingly become a custom for them.
In our nation, we find several bad habits like consuming alcohol, raising too many loans, finding fault with others, back-biting, eavesdropping, lampooning and telling lies etc. These habits always guide one towards bad situations.
So, you must develop good habits. Rising up early in the morning and singing and praising God is a good habit. If you make this a habit, in due course it will become a custom and you will be doing it wherever you go and wherever you stay. That custom will guide you in the path of holiness. Some people will have the habit of reading the Scripture as their custom. What a great custom it is!
Let taking part in Sunday Services be a custom for you. Let giving the tithe to God be your custom. Let rendering witness to God may become your custom. If you make these things as your habits at an early age itself, you will be seen first in eternity.
Satan is sowing bad habits among people. Paul the Apostle writes, “….in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). Dear children of God, may you follow good habits and remain victorious!
To meditate: “….and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).