Do you have routines and things that you do every day or consistently? Do you a certain way that you some particular activities? Do you prefer to mix things up, do things differently just for the sake of variety?
For me, I have daily routines like brushing my teeth, washing my face, reading something in the Old Testament, a Psalm and something in the New Testament. I have certain ways that I chop lettuce when I make a salad and there’s a pattern I tend to follow when I shovel snow. There’s no doubt that I can adjust the routines and mix things up – sometimes I do just that. But I find it helpful to have routines, until it’s not helpful.
In thinking about routines that create patterns and habits, I’ve been reading the last half of Exodus lately. This is some of the content where God defines and describes the pieces of furniture in the temple, their functions and the particular clothing the priests were to wear during their service. There is more than twenty chapters with all these particulars and routines. For me, this content can get boring. Furthermore, God gives extensive directions through Moses on how to do various sacrifices in Leviticus: cutting out fat lobes on different animals, grain offering content, procedures for burning various animals, etc.
In complete honesty, when I read this content, I’m really bored and tempted to take a nap. However, I remind myself that God outlined all of these processes and routines to give Israel the structures and disciplines to sustain their focus and worship – keeping God as a central activity in the daily life of the nation. In that sense, the routines that God outlined were a vital necessity to keep Israel on track in their relationship with God. I’d identify this as some of the delights in routines.
On the other hand, Israel absorbed these routines into their daily existence such that there were seasons when Israel went through these well-worn motions but without heartfelt engagement. There are times in the Old Testament when God admonishes Israel for doing the actions of ritualized worship, but not being wholly present in the motions of devotion. A good example of one of these moments is when Samuel confronted Saul on his ritualized worship in 1 Samuel 15:22, “Samuel said, ‘Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.”
So let’s be careful with the routines that we have pertaining to our relationship with God. The routines can be delightful in helping us remain steady in daily awareness and engagement with God. Indeed, in Paul’s descriptions of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, close to half of his descriptions revolve around consistency and faithfulness. But the routines can be dangerous if we just go through the motions of devotion without wholly participating and engaging in loving fellowship with God.
