There is a difference between a routine and a rut. And the biggest difference is in our mind. Sometimes doing the same thing over and over, day after day, can be frustrating. We feel trapped in the sameness of life. Stuck. And sometimes the walls of that rut can seem as tall as Mount Everest.

But a routine is different. Yes, a routine can be doing the same thing over and over, day after day. But a routine can help us stay on track toward the goals of our life. It’s like a runner in a marathon. That person takes one stride after another, thousands of those strides, over and over again, until the finish line is reached and the goal is accomplished.

Judy and I have several routines when it comes to our spiritual lives. We are both early risers and have as a routine reading the Bible as one of the very first things we do. OK…I fix a cup of coffee. But after that it’s to my favorite chair and digging into the Scriptures. Judy does about the same. She is studying in Matthew these mornings and I am on a plan to read through the Bible in a year.

Over the past year I have looked for a passage out of my reading that I can share on social media, along with a picture that I feel helps illustrate the verse. Routine.

At the breakfast table we share a devotional thought. This year we are reading (actually, re-reading) Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God Day by Day. Though we don’t do it every morning, many times that devotion will remind us of an old hymn or Gospel song, so we head to YouTube to see if we can find a good version of that song. It often becomes a sweet worship experience.

In the evening when we can eat dinner at home, we often read another devotional. This time we are reading from a book by Dr. Robert Jeffress of Pathway to Victory and First Baptist Church of Dallas. Robert is both my friend and my pastor. Right now, we are looking into the life of Nehemiah and gleaning leadership principles from Nehemiah’s book and his experiences.

Is that a rut or a positive routine? Well, to be honest, if I didn’t love the Lord and desire to know Him better through His Word, it could quickly become a rut. Thankfully, God has put a desire in my heart that turns this potential rut into a beneficial routine.

Are there days when I don’t feel like going through this routine? Absolutely. But the discipline of the routine…and a glimpse of the goal…keep me at it.

Do we sometimes NOT follow this routine? Yes. But those are the exceptions. I believe our Lord is more interested in honoring our desire to know Him than He is in punishing us each time we fail to follow our routine. The Lord has eternity in view. We often just see the next step. But if we are faithful in the next step, our Lord Jesus will let us see a bit of eternity…even in our daily routine.

God’s best…