"What is the 21/90™ rule? Basically, we believe that it takes 21 days to create a habit and 90 days to make it part of your lifestyle. After you complete the 90 days, the habit will be as much a part of your daily lifestyle as brushing your teeth." (Lifted from a Wellness Site, lovewellness.com)

Back in January, Pastor challenged his Sunday school class with 12 resolutions for spiritual growth and discipline. He has checked with us almost every week since then for accountability.

That was a wise way to start the year. All truth is God's truth and the above secular quote shows that our class has now had five months to build some good lifetime habits (which I will call disciplines for anyone who takes the word "habit" in a negative light).

I have noticed two just this week.

My best friend and I had a holiday chat today and realized our "habit" of daily deep dive study in I Corinthians has become essential in our lives. We initially put commentaries off limits and used just the text, our own knowledge of First Century Corinth, and the Greek Interlinear, with its deeper explanation of what the words meant in First Century Greek. That has proven to be a very fruitful way to examine God's Word for what it says. Aside from the fact we both admit we don't know enough about the Corinthian context to understand what God was saying about head coverings in chapter 11, we have mined some wonderful riches every week from the text. (And we can always consult commentaries later on the head coverings).

Secondly, while I have always wanted to be a witness at work, the conscious "habit" of working at it for five months has put words more easily into my mouth these days. I often find myself saying, "If I wasn't a Christian, I would find myself in total despair about that report." This kind of natural way of speaking about our Lord must surely contrast with the despair around us in our building that has produced 6-7 suicides in the past two years (the most recent one Saturday). As John O'Malley said last week, "I met Jesus. Come meet Him, too. Our past is not a problem."

God has built principles into His world. When we walk in Him, we only prove that His principles work. There is nothing to be bragadocious about in that. He gave His life that we might have life more abundant. I am so thankful to Him that He privileges us to partner with Him in His work!