How often did God walk in His garden?  I can just imagine the beauty of that garden.  And as gardeners love the fragrance and color of flowers, the variety of vegetables growing, the rich dirt crumbling between the gardening fingers, strolling through the garden becomes a favorite thing to do.  Surely God wandered through it often.  Surely!  (At least I can imagine!)

In the same way, a habit develops by taking that first step … that first step to hold God’s Word in my heart … that first step to read His Word daily … that first step to spend time with the Lord daily.  As one habit grows into the second and third steps, so, too, do additional habits form.  One step at a time.

What if I take one step and then two and then three?  Suddenly I am walking with the God of my life in His garden of beauty, with Him, holding His hand.  He shows me a new flower, a new piece of His work, a new fruit growing that can be mine if only I would make this walk a habit with Him.  Godly habits are not about doing something over and over again until they become entrenched in my way of life just out of the doing.  Godly habits are made in the Presence of God from the delight of being with Him, from the joy of being held closely, from the seriousness of obedience.  Yes, a godly habit may be made by doing something again and again, but it only becomes real, godly real, when in close relationship with God, while doing something to please the Father, and walking obediently in His Ways, with Him. 

If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.  Deuteronomy 30:16
 

 photo: “Baby’s First Steps” by Flight Shot/Andy Nguyen