Opening Presents Early

The end is in sight! I've been reading through the Bible this year and can see the finish line. It's been a great discipline for me. I've had a direction and goal as I sit down with the Lord each day to read and pray. In an earlier post I talked about trying to decide what to do in my devotions after the first of the year. I've elected to start in the gospel of Luke and simply spend time meditating on the life of Christ. I'm really excited to get started, but that has created a problem.

Reading through the Bible in a year has become a habit. There have been days I have forced myself to read. There have been other days I have forced myself to stop. Over the last 350 days there have only been a handful of days that I haven't done the "required" reading. Now I just have a few of the little Old Testament prophets to read and I will reach the finish line.

This has created a silly internal struggle. I want to race through the prophets and get on to Luke. I feel like a kid at Christmastime. "Can we open the packages early?" "How about one package now?" "Do we have to wait until Christmas?" Mom and Dad always said no. The disciplined part of me that has forced me to read each day says no. The carefree part of me asks, "Why not?" The peacekeeper in me tries to settle the argument by suggesting to myself that I sit down and read the rest of the Old Testament today and have fun with Luke tomorrow.

Like I said, it's a silly struggle, but it does show the power of habits. My routines drive me in certain directions. Having developed the discipline of running, my body actually hurts now when I don't run...it expects, needs and even demands running in order to feel good.

This silly struggle has caused me to think a little bit about some of my habits. If my habits drive me in certain directions, what would I like to change? For example, I have a habit of heading to the kitchen for a snack whenever I come home from anywhere. Why is that? Do I really need a snack after the church potluck? I keep talking about wanting to spend more time with friends, but can I create a "routine" like having someone over after church every week that would make it feel strange not to be spending time with friends?

I've decided that when it comes to my devotions it's okay to do both. I will continue to read through the Old Testament and finish the Bible on December 31. I am also going to start Luke now. There's nothing wrong with that! In fact, the greatest habit I want to reinforce over the coming year is spending time with Jesus. It hurts when I don't spend time with Him. What was it the psalmist wrote? Oh yeah, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God" (Psalm 42:1).