“And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him.” (Luke 22:39) Have you ever wondered if Jesus did not make it to a place of worship on the Sabbath, or did He never miss one? His “wont” means His habit, and we are indeed as it is said creatures of habit, we like, in fact need in many cases to set a routine and to follow that routine, it gives many if not a sense of security, then at least a sense of certainty, it places at it were an anchor point for those moments of time in our lives.
They are beyond numerous and are as varied as there are people om the planet, and they are nearly always chosen by us. From the prisoner in those times when meals are prepared to the woman who reads her Bible at a specific set time each day, these anchor points when broken can cause much disconcertion, anxiety even.
Satan tempts us in many ways, this statement does not generally mean he himself or one of his Satanic horde has come to pay a visit, though that does happen, but these temptations have been neatly placed in the world by him for the deceiving and hopefully in his eyes, the temporary falling away of the man of God. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15) They are not only set as traps meant to divert us towards sinful pleasure but are also a cause to hinder the habits that we have set upon ourselves, thus breaking that continuity.
If you have a prescribed habit you attend to before work, after work, during any part of your day, and the ability to perform it is removed from you, that day will not go as planned. Here is where those who have been born-again must contemplate the words in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” But I fear few do.
Once that anchor point is broken, few are able to continue upon their lives with any form of confidence, for it was not them that made the decision to modify that part of their life, but God. Here is the patience of the Saints, here is where trust is learned, or at least offered to us. How many who live by Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” felt perhaps not extreme panic but at least some form of anxiety when the church they attend failed to continue to meet together because of the fear of the dreaded flu, whose pastors determined that the best course of action was not to trust the Lord, but to acquiesce to the current fear.
The habit of church attendance was shown for what it truly is for some, nothing more than obedience for the sake of obedience, and not a gathering together of like-minded souls to worship and praise the Most High.
This mindset has continued over into the forced enablement of Satan’s world upon all society, the fear of speaking the truth to a sinful world is more prevalent than it has been in many decades, perhaps longer. The habit of Christianity has arrived, and it is called the apostacy.
Many have not studied to show themselves approved, but instead perform the habits, which we can now see clearly are nothing more than the traditions and supposed obligations meant to incur the favor of God. “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.” (Amos 5:21) Satan in all his wiles attempts to tempt us, to deceive us into believing a lie, the Lord does not tempt any man (James 1:13) but He does attempt to sway us into a life that is pleasing to Him.
In either case we are the responsible party, the Lord forces virtue upon no man, these habits that many have who claim to know Jesus Christ as Lord are nothing more than traditions, they have been set in their lives by themselves, and are not there to honor the Lord, but to give them an anchor point that assists them in feeling, even believing that they are obeying out of a love for Him. Nothing could be further from the truth. Break the habit, and the tares are easily discernable from the wheat.
