Old Habits die hard!

 

Old habits are hard to break. You see this every year when people make their New Year's resolutions. I have seen studies that say it can take as little as 18 days for something to become a habit. I have also seen reports that it can take up to 254 days to really consider the old habit replaced by the new. So, habits like prayer, going to church, and studying scripture, can take a while to become a lifestyle change. We need the power of the Holy Spirit and we need the encouragement of community to really make a change of habit. If we are "going it alone" it might be really difficult to make a change and it is so easy to slip back into the old habits if we don't stick with it.

 When the Babylonians defeated Israel and shipped most of the people into exile, you would think that would be a powerful wake-up call for change. Nope! In Jeremiah 42, a remnant of Israel was left in Judah. They came to Jeremiah asking him to pray to God for direction.

"'All right,' Jeremiah replied. 'I will pray to the Lord your God, as you have asked, and I will tell you everything he says. I will hide nothing from you.' Then they said to Jeremiah, 'May the Lord your God be a faithful witness against us if we refuse to obey whatever he tells us to do! Whether we like it or not, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we are sending you with our plea. For if we obey him, everything will turn out well for us.'" (Jeremiah 42:4-6)

So Jeremiah prays to God and God gives this remnant advice to stay in Judah and not to flee to Egypt. He warned them that they would be destroyed if they disobeyed. So, what did they do? 

"Azariah son of Hoshaiah and Johanan son of Kareah and all the other proud men said to Jeremiah, 'You lie! The Lord our God hasn't forbidden us to go to Egypt! Baruch son of Neriah has convinced you to say this, because he wants us to stay here and be killed by the Babylonians or be carried off into exile.'" (Jeremiah 43:2-3)

God's people got into this mess because they refused to listen to God's messenger. The exile would never have happened if they obeyed the Lord. They never learned their lesson. They habitually did exactly what THEY wanted to do and disobeyed God. They couldn't break out of the habit. 

Are we any different? When times get hard people turn to the Lord. They might even go to church, pray, and seek the wisdom of God. Those are good things. But, when things get better or the problem is solved, we return to our old habits and no longer pray, no longer worship, and no longer seek God's will. This remnant had been through countless trials watching Jerusalem burn. Their family and friends were carted off to a foreign land. They knew Jeremiah had been right. Everything he predicted came true. When they were rescued from Babylon by the mercy and Grace of God, they sought advice. They turned to their Heavenly Father, God responded through Jeremiah, and then they fell back into their old habits. They refused to listen. 

Come on people! Turn to the Lord, and make it a new habit! Seek his face, pray, worship, and fellowship. Make a commitment to really break your old habits of disobedience and separation from God. Start something new, stick with it, and look how your life will be changed! Seek God and He will be found! 

"And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. So take this seriously." (1 Chronicles 28:9-10)