As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me. God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.
Psalm 55:16-19
There is an old story about a teacher who took a student for a walk in the woods. They came to a clearing where there were four plants in various stages of development. One at a time the teacher instructed his pupil to pull them out of the ground. The first plant was just a few inches tall, and it came up without any effort at all. The second had more roots and height, but still was pulled out fairly easily. The third was a shrub that required all the boy’s strength and effort to pull up. The fourth was a full-grown tree. It did not even budge no matter how hard he pulled. The teacher said, “This, my son, is what happens with our bad habits. When they are young, we can remove them readily; but the longer we allow them to grow, the more difficult they become to uproot.”
The same principle applies to developing good habits. When we trust Christ as our Savior, God makes us new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17). His grace changes us from the inside out, giving us new desires and the power to live differently. Yet spiritual growth also requires us to make intentional choices. The more consistently we pray, read God’s Word, witness, and serve Him, the more these godly habits become established in our lives. David declared, “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice” (Psalm 55:17). His regular habit of prayer reflected a heart that depended on the Lord. As we yield to God’s work in our lives and faithfully practice what He teaches us, we grow toward spiritual maturity. One day at a time, one choice at a time, and one habit at a time, we develop patterns of living that reflect the new life God has given us.
