This is the session you’ve probably been waiting for: the habits you can build into your life that will help you stay aligned with the values of the Kingdom of God. I’ve resisted jumping straight into this for a couple of reasons. First, Western culture likes to make checklists, and Checklists for Life™ are burdensome. It’s so easy to make it about the checklist instead of the thing the checklist is meant to support: your life with God. Second, your life season and rhythms will color your habits and routines. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to this, and your specific habits and routines will rarely stay them same as your seasons change. With that said, it’s helpful to have a starting place, which is all this session is: a starting place.

Anyhow, let’s get into it.

What I’m about to share with you are the basics of a life following Jesus. They’ve been part of things since the very beginning, modernized of course, but still the basic stuff. I believe anyone can do this – regardless of your schedule or season or life stage or whatever. If you have these basic habits in your day, then it will be much easier to get deeper later on – and that’s the idea. There is no end to getting to know Jesus. He always has something new in store.

Anyway. Basics. Right.

It all comes down to Breakfast with Jesus¹ There are three parts to this:

1) Breakfast
Eat something, you’ve just starved yourself for 8+ hours and it’s going to be hard to concentrate. I’m not going to tell you what to eat. You can work that out with your stomach. I’d suggest something not-sugary.
2) Scripture
Read something out of the Bible. Don’t read the Bible because the Bible said to read the Bible. That’s not a good reason: it’s weird and self-referential. Read the Bible because that’s where the values of the Kingdom of God are documented by people who knew him. If you’re just starting out, then read one of the records of Jesus’ life – they’re found at about the mid-point and are named after the authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. John spent the most time with Jesus. I’d start there – like a chapter a day or something shorter.
3) Write a little
Don’t overdo this. Writing can be intimidating if you’re not a writer. Just do a couple of things: write down a couple of verses that summarize what you just read and write down a one or two sentences about how it applies to your life right now.
4) Prayer
Prayer is such a weird word. What it really means is talking with Jesus.² As in a conversation where you both take turns talking. If you’re really new at this, just talk to him about what you just read – like “Hey, could you make my life look more like yours?” or “Do you have anything you want me to hear from this scripture?” Then wait for a couple of minutes to see if he brings anything up. You can time it on your phone. Don’t worry if you don’t hear anything at first – just keep showing up. More on this in a later session.

Those are the basics. You can put this anywhere in your day that makes sense. If you hate breakfast, have Lunch with Jesus instead, or Coffee with Jesus. Doesn’t matter. It doesn’t have to be long either – start with 5 or 10 minutes. The important thing is to build the habit of meeting with, reading about, and speaking to him at the same time every day. This is the first step to staying in alignment with the Kingdom of God.

Photo by John Matychuk on Unsplash