I woke up this morning a bit earlier than I liked. I had a healthy breakfast. I went to the gym and worked out. I came into the office and before turning my laptop on or doing any work spent time in prayer and personal Bible study. This has become my morning routine for the last few months.
Routines get a pretty bad rap these days. Most of the time we’re used to hearing about how they can get us in a rut or how they can keep us from enjoying life. We get stuck in our routines, right? While I’m very willing to agree that there’s the possibility for things to get a bit off course if you’re not careful, you’ll find that pretty much any good thing in life can have inherent dangers in it if it’s not handled correctly. But I think there’s so much good that can come from some healthy routines.
We are shaped by the routines we keep. And so if you want to have clean teeth, you routinely brush your teeth. If you want to be intelligent, you routinely go to school, read, and educate yourself. Sometimes our routines shape us less intentionally. Some people are incredibly bitter because they routinely talk about the negative things going on in their life to everybody rather than focusing on the positive. Some people are tired and out of shape because they routinely get less than enough sleep and don’t take care of their bodies.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that routines shape the lives you and I lead every day. And so the big question then becomes: What routines are you living in now that are shaping the future you? Most people won’t think about something like that very much in their life. But then again, I don’t think that you want to have the same joy and fullness that most people these days are living in; you want more!
So take time to think about the things you do pretty much every day and how they’re affecting you. Take even the small things that you feel you have to do every day and investigate them, perhaps modify or even remove them if they’re not leading you towards the goals you’ve got in life. And then also consider adding in a few healthy routines to your life to make it more God-honoring and full. Something as simple as keeping a 10&10 (10 min. praying, 10 min. Bible study) can yield amazing results. Just try it and see!