MacCallum

Sometimes we are encouraged to not let our religious habits “get in the way” of true spirituality, when in fact most of us could use a few habits to better spiritual effect. Occasionally religious habits have even been accused of leading to a “spiritual rut”.  All good habits are servants and should only be abandoned when a more effective servant appears. Otherwise why not lean upon it?

Forsaking a religious habit (like rising early to read Scripture, praying at a set time, tithing a predetermined amount) usually comes at a time of frustration rather than growth – when we no longer feel the effect of the habit. But this is an over-reaction. Rather we should seek stability instead of feeling, edification rather than excitement. As we are the most inconstant of all God’s creatures, swaying toward God one hour and then away from Him the next, we should be happy to have any habit that brings us more consistency. Even if that habit risks becoming mere routine later, activities that reinforce the thoughts of God, activities that hammer into us those shiny nails of truth that He hands us, are the very servants of the God who gave them.

I don’t think there is life on other planets. I read the Scriptures to say life on earth is the central stage for the story of God – His love and redemption of His highest creation, Man, through His Son. I know the rebuttal is something like, that’s pretty arrogant, to think Man is the center of this vast universe. I don’t think Man is the center, that’s humanism. I think Christ is the center. And why would God pick this insignificant speck called Earth out of such a vast universe? As opposed to a more significant spec? Like there’s any planet that isn’t a speck in the “vast” expanse of the universe? And if God picked it, doesn’t that mean it is no longer insignificant?

So the “vast” argument does not work for me. The “vast” argument for life on other planets goes like this: the universe is so VAST that statistically, there could be billions upon billions of earthlike planets where life could have started like it did here: meaning by accident in a primordial soup that was cooking after the Big Bang. The “vast” argument relies heavily on the common inability to comprehend the size of anything in the billions. Like the U.S. budget deficit. Most people just can’t wrap their head around it so the “vast” argument seems plausible.

The truth is, the vastness of the universe argues better for the existence of God, than for the existence of other life forms. It displays His infinite nature, which was satisfied for thousands of years with simpler metaphors – mountains, sand on the shore, the ocean, the stars – placed all around so we could “see” an example of the infinite. And as Man “outgrew” these, more was waiting. God graciously gives us a universe that is so nearly infinite that we will never be without something to ponder how vast HE is.

God’s first title, as it were, is Creator. With His words “Let there be…” the Creative Process was begun and has not stopped resonating through time and history. The vibration of His voice flows through us all and whether we rightly give credit to God the Creator or misname the sensation that flows through us – Taoism’s Way, Hinduism’s Karma, Buddhism’s Path – it is felt.

It may be mislabeled, but then many feelings can be. Nonetheless it’s a testimony God has left with all mankind at all times. We experience being “created in His image” when we participate in any creative process. It is the most basic opportunity God offers, and like the rain, it is given to the righteous and the unrighteous, the foolish and the wise, the grateful and the ungrateful.

Every true thought that God reveals is like a shiny nail with a sharp point.  It has weight and substance and the ability to go deep into the structure of our lives. But what is required is the hammer of our habit to tap and drive it home. It is no use having a box of nails with no hammer; without a hammer, nails are well-crafted but utterly useless objects. We are responsible to pick up the hammer of good habits and make God-given thoughts a permanent part of our lives.

Our thinking is not strong enough on its own to move us toward God consistently. It takes habit to make truth last. We must support every thought God reveals to us by use of positive habits since it would be pointless for God to reveal the thought over and over because we failed to incorporate it.

So when you hear from God, take up the hammer of habit and begin tapping that thought into the place He meant for it to go. If you use the first nail He gives you, He might give you a second one.