Make That Break ThatSample

God is a planner, and God has a habitual nature. We are a reflection of him. Our habitual behaviors write our history long before we actually experience that history. The things we do each day, each week, and each season of our lives are the things that shape our lives and our destinies. They can even impact eternity. 

In fact, because you are made in God’s image, you actually reflect God’s temperament in more ways than you realize. God has programmed regularity into everything He does. A day is always 24 hours long, and a year is always 365-1⁄4 days. You and I also operate with internal schedules, though we often fail to think about it. We eat at certain times, we sleep at certain times, and there are “seasons” to our activities that can be detected through the patterns of our actions. According to Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV), “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” But if we don’t learn to appreciate the habitual nature that God gave us and if we don’t learn to harness the power of our habits for our own benefit, we are wasting our God-given opportunity to direct the course of our own lives. 

With that in mind, let me ask you: What are your plans for the coming year? What are your plans for the next five years? What do you want to achieve over the next 20 years of your life? What do you want to accomplish before you die? What do you want to see your relationships become? And what are your specific plans for achieving these goals? 

Once you answer these questions, you will have a gigantic head start on the rest of the human race. Nevertheless, once you answer these questions, you need to answer a few more: What habits are you going to develop to help you get there? What habits are you going to nurture that can help you succeed in your professional pursuits? What habits are you going to foster that can help you save for a rainy day? What habits are you going to acquire that can help you get the rest you need along the way? And what habits are you going to forge that can help you spend more time with the people who matter most to you?