Ground Hog Day...

The movie “Ground Hog Day” featuring Bill Murray is one of my personal favorites. In the film, Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, a television weatherman who is forced to live the same day over and over again. Many of us feel like Phil Connors these days with shelter in place. If you are like me, you look forward to being able to eat at your favorite restaurant, go back to church, the gym, the movies, even the dentist. Maybe not the dentist… The truth is, we miss our regular routines. The question I want you to consider, is this: “What routines do you plan to carry over when “shelter in place” is lifted?” For many of us this season has removed many of the distractions and hindrances to daily Bible reading and prayer, family walks, or even engaging in worship (via livestream) more consistently.

I want to encourage you to establish and solidify daily and weekly practices that will continue to feed your soul and build your family life, once this lifts. Don’t assume returning to “life as normal” is God’s will for you. In Matthew eleven, Jesus invites us to “learn from Him”

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)

To learn from Jesus means to follow his example. This requires that we engage in the same activities Jesus did. When you see the phrase “as usual” it refers to something repeated. In other words, a habit.

“When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures." (Luke 4:16 NLT)

“Then, accompanied by the disciples, Jesus left the upstairs room and went as usual to the Mount of Olives. There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.” (Luke 22:39-46 NLT)

Habits provide the underlying structure to life. What habits do you want to start during these days or continue over once this season passes? Jesus invites us to learn from him with the promise that by so doing we will find rest for our souls. The rest of Christ is found in the following of Christ.

Praying that you rediscover a better way of doing life during these days!

Pastor Chuck