Routine - maybe its not such a bad word after all

15th August 2022

As schools return from the summer break, it signals the return to a regular routine for many of us. Whether it is the routine of the work and school day, or the predictability of the shops and buses being quieter again when the kids are at school, the end of the summer break brings with it a return to routine.

And often that return to routine is surprisingly welcome for there is something about the way we are made, in God’s image, that thrives on order. That shouldn’t be surprising since our creator is the one who brought about order in creation as He turned all that was formless and void and brought order to it. And our God is the one who, through His Son, is reconciling all things to Himself that the disorder of humanity’s fall might be brought back into order under the Kingship of our Lord Jesus.

While the summer often offers a chance for a break from routine, we soon find ourselves looking forward to the return of regular rhythms and patterns. Perhaps routine is not such a bad word after all.

It certainly isn’t a bad word when it comes to our spiritual growth. Spiritual routines or disciplines are vital to a growing and vibrant faith but yet are so often maligned. The idea of spiritual disciplines are sometimes shunned because it seems like ritualism. Spiritual disciplines are sometimes portrayed as the enemy of a dynamic faith. But this is not the case.

Paul writes to Timothy,

train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:7-8)

If you have ever been involved in sport or music or many other pursuits, there is a training that takes place. This training requires regular, disciplined practise. A musician does not expect to improve if they stop practising once they know how to play all the notes – their talent grows through ongoing, disciplined practise. Many of us probably watched some of the Commonwealth Games this summer and heard interviews with the athletes who described the ongoing, dedicated, training regime that they undertook in advance of the games.

So Paul exhorts us to train for godliness. Some translations say, discipline yourself for godliness. As Donald Whitney, the president of the Center for Biblical Spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary writes, "no Christian coasts into Christlikeness. Godliness, according to this text, requires training." If we are to grow in Christlikeness, if we are to be increasingly transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, if we are to increasingly display the fruits of the Spirit in our lives, then, Paul writes, we must train for it.

Just as athletes follow a training programme, what is the training programme for godliness?

Well Paul makes it clear in the preceding verses in 1 Timothy,

For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. (1 Timothy 4:4-6)

There are many good things for the Christian to pursue but the focus of our training ought to be, v5, the word of God and prayer. Disciplined, study of God’s Word and faithfulness in prayer form two key pillars of our training programme. Paul adds a further pillar in verse 13,

devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. (1 Timothy 4:13)

Therefore, the training programme for godliness is:

• Devotion to Sunday worship
• Disciplined study and reading of God’s Word with others and on our own
• Faithfulness in prayer with others and on our own 

As Christians, the goal of our lives ought to be godliness. Therefore, establishing routines of Sunday worship, Bible Study, and prayer are vital in achieving this. It is insufficient to aim for one or two but all three work together to produce godliness in us.

These routines are given to us for our good. We must always be careful not to fall into legalism where our spiritual routines become a cause for boasting or when we put our confidence in these routines rather than in Jesus Christ alone. Sunday worship, God’s Word, and prayer are given to us as an act of God’s grace. God gives them to us so that the Holy Spirit might use them to produce godliness within us.

Finally, we are not in this pursuit of godliness alone but we all strive for this together. We must remember the pattern of our Lord Jesus where he would pray and teach God’s Word with the disciples and also retreat to the solitude of time alone with the Father. Similarly, our training in godliness must include reading and studying God’s Word on our own and with others. And we ought to pray not only on our own but with others also.

Routines can sometimes be hard to establish and easy to set-aside but we must remember what is at stake - our godliness. As we seek to establish routines once again, I would encourage us all to examine our spiritual routines and where they have become inconsistent or imbalanced, seek to renew those routines and, once again, commit ourselves to train in godliness together.