I Accepted Christ: Now What?Prøve

## New Habits Bringing my wife flowers is always a good idea, especially when there’s no special occasion. But no matter how beautiful the gesture is or how often I change the water, flowers don’t last. Severed from the rest of the plant, it doesn’t take long before they wither and die. Soon, the once beautiful arrangement becomes a shriveled, putrid mess. Our spiritual lives are not much different. Jesus compares His followers to branches on a vine. If we maintain a connection with the vine, we flourish, flower, and fruit. But if we don’t, we wither. No growth, no fruit, no point. It’s much easier for us to get disconnected from Jesus than for a branch to spontaneously separate from a vine. Not only does everything in our life seem to conspire to pull us away from Him, we often disconnect ourselves through our choices. Instead of reading His Word to start the day, we read the news. Instead of gathering with other believers in worship on Sundays, we watch church on our phones. Instead of talking to God in prayer, we complain to our friends about life. Before we realize it, our spiritual growth is stunted. Jesus wants us to bear fruit, but more than that, He wants us to stay connected to Him. To do that, we must work to develop new habits. The ancient church fathers called them spiritual disciplines. These are behaviors that help us stay close to God, like studying the Bible, memorizing Scripture, praying, meeting with other believers (fellowship), confessing, journaling, and fasting. Spiritual disciplines won’t save us, but they can help us “abide” in the One who does. Small changes can lead to new habits over time. What spiritual discipline will you commit to adding to your daily routine?