POWER OF ROUTINE

 I had an exciting journey of loosing 17kgs in about 8 months. It took a lot of discipline in my diet and exercise and the grace of God to loose all that excess weight. But there are lots of valuable spiritual lessons that I learnt while I was in the process of loosing physical weight.

Lesson # 1: POWER OF ROUTINE

The most important lesson that I learnt was the Power of Routine. Initially when I started exercising I lost 5 kgs in just a month. I was so excited. But after that the process was so slow. I could not see any change for almost 2 months. I was so worried about it. But I kept my routine and the changes came eventually. In the same way, even in our spiritual life initially when we are born again we pray and we see miracles happen just like that. Things change so fast. It keeps us excited but as time goes by we loose interest to pray. We begin to doubt if prayer works or if the Bible is relevant at all. But if we keep coming to God like we did at the beginning, we will see lasting changes.

Lesson # 2 : NO ONE CAN KEEP THE ROUTINE FOR ME EXCEPT MYSELF.
Others can encourage you and motivate you, but if you don’t get out of your comfort zone, come out of your laziness and practice self control, no one can help you. There are days when we will feel tired and our muscles will be sore and hurting. But if we keep to the routine, the pain will go away and we will have more energy and stamina. In the same way, no one else can pray for you. Mommy’s prayers won’t suffice for you to grow in the Lord. Just being part of a church won’t help you in your spiritual life. Unless we get down on our knees and ask God to be with us and help us, we will only be spiritual babies, waiting to be prayed for by some pastor or prophet.

Lesson # 3 : IF WE STOP THE ROUTINE, WE CANNOT KEEP FIT.

Just because I worked out these 8 months it does not guarantee my fitness always. If I don’t keep the routine I can get to a worse state than I was at the beginning. In the same way last year’s prayers and the verses we memorized in Sunday School will not guarantee our spiritual fitness forever .We need God today, we need His word every day.

James 4:8 says,” Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners and purify your heart; you double minded.” 

You know, at times we feel frustrated as to why things don’t happen for us quickly like for people who use witchcraft or sorcery. They seem to get answers quickly just by placing money at the feet of some idol. But we must understand that those results are short lived and only harm the person who uses such means to achieve their ends.

With our God there are no shortcuts, no magic pills. I have seen people who loose weight using pills and other beverages, but they gain it back as quickly as they have lost it. It only spoils their body and the results don’t last. The amazing thing about God is that when we come to Him, because He is Light, He first exposes our sins and weaknesses. He then removes the unnecessary things in our life and sets us right, before He gives us the things we expect. When we come close to His light, all the deeds of darkness are exposed. That, for one reason, is why people put off coming to God. Jesus does not need our money or gifts. He wants our life, our time, our love.

Jeremiah 17:13 says” LORD, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water.” 

Also Hebrews 4:16 says,” So let us keep on coming boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

We serve a God who loves routine. You can see that in creation where night follows day and in the seasons that change. We can see how the sun rises every morning on the good and the evil. Our God is faithful even when we are unfaithful (II Tim 2:13) for He cannot disown himself.

His steadfast love never ceases, His mercy never comes to an end. They are new every morning.(Lam 3:22 – 23)

I once heard uncle D.G.S. Dhinakaran narrate this story.. There was a man named Jim who worked in a construction company. Everyday exactly at 2 o clock in the afternoon ,during his lunch break ,he used to go to a chapel to pray for 5 minutes. He would just stand there,take off his cap and weep and in the end He would say,” Jesus this is Jim”. This was his routine every single day. He would do this without fail. One day alas he had an accident in the company and was rushed to the hospital and he was admitted there. He was lying in the bed weeping all alone. Not because of his wounds but because He could not go to the chapel to pray. But exactly at 2 o clock the atmosphere in His room changed. There was a divine presence in his room and Lo he saw the Lord Jesus standing at His bed side. And with a loving voice He said. “Jim ,this is Jesus.” “Jim , this is Jesus” What a God we serve. He is so faithful. He takes us seriously. Our prayers matter to Him. When Jim could not go to meet Jesus, Jesus came to meet Jim. For Jesus loves those whose heart is fully committed to Him (II Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.)

I Tim 4:8 says,” For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things. Holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

All this physical training is of very less value but the Spiritual routine of reading the Scriptures, praying and gathering with the saints is of great value. Hebrews 10:25 says,” We should not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing but encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching.”

I want to encourage each one of you to keep the routine. Initially it may seem useless. But just like Mary Magdalene who was just faithfully following a routine custom of taking spices to a tomb got a big surprise to see the risen Lord, you too will encounter Christ in a whole new way as you keep the routine of going to His presence every single day.

Now more than my physical routine, I take every effort to keep my spiritual routine and I am confident that I will see great and lasting results as I refuse to take for granted my relationship with Christ. If you have stopped praying regularly or reading the bible like you used to,it is time to start again and revive that lost relationship with Christ and become strong in your spiritual lives to live as a conqueror for Christ. I would like to encourage you to deliberately choose a time to talk to God and hear from his word every single day and try your best to keep the routine. When we ask the Holy Spirit to help. He will surely help us to keep it.

Stay Blessed
Merilyn Jemimah Amirtharaj.