BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. - Psalm 1:1-3
Two Forgotten Spiritual Habits for a Happy Life
By Aaron and Michelle Reyes
God wants us to be happy.
By happy, I don’t mean some superficial, worldly notion of happiness, like having more money. I’m talking about true happiness, the kind that the Psalmist describes in Psalm 1 about the man who is “like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither” (v. 3). God desires for us to experience a deep, rich and nourishing happiness. So, how do receive this happiness from God? For that, we turn to habits.
We all have habits, whether we realize it not. We have set times that we wake up, that we eat. We have set rhythms when we’re going to bed. We have habits.
We don’t cultivate these habits because we need to earn God’s favor. We’re not trying to prove to God that we are deserving of His love. Not at all. Instead of trying to earn his love, we cultivate these habits in response to his love. We engage in these practices out of our love for him.
Two of these habits are being on time and singing in church.
Being connected to, rooted in and thriving within Christian community does not just happen. Rather, there are certain practices required in order to fulfill this habit, and this means (among other things) that you are on time for Sunday mornings and that you sing.
If we want to be brutally honest, this means not showing up forty minutes late to church on a Sunday morning.
There may be some legitimate extraneous circumstances. But, the vast majority of the time why people are late is because they didn’t start their morning early enough. They slept in, probably because stayed up too late the night before, or some people intentionally come late because they want to skip the singing.
Whatever your reason, be on time. Here’s why: the Holy Spirit does a profound work in us when we sing. When we sing, the Spirit is at work speaking truth to us. We are reminded afresh of the gospel when we sing.
In fact, as we see in Colossians 3:16, singing to God teaches us: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
As we’re singing, the Spirit reminds us that Jesus is enough. He tells us that Christ is more precious than this world. Furthermore, when we sing, the Spirit fills us up with more of Himself.
Look at Ephesians 5:18-19: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.”
As we sing, the Spirit assures us that God is with us. Put plainly: if you’re late, you miss out on this work of the Spirit.
Adapted from “3 Spiritual Habits for a Happy Life That We Don’t Usually Talk About.”
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