DAILIES AND WEEKLIES

“So CONTINUING DAILY with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house…” – Acts 2:46

The Orderly Christian Life embraces certain spiritual habits that I refer to as DAILIES and WEEKLIES: “So continuing DAILY with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46-47). There were also weekly dimensions to the life of the early Church: “Now on the first day of the WEEK, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight” (Acts 20:7). God has a divine order of regularity to our individual and collective devotional lives.

Dailies and Weeklies are spiritual disciplines through which God communicates to us and we to Him; and by which our faith is developed both in content (what we believe), and in degree (how much and how consistently we trust in Him rather than in ourselves). Through these habits, we are able to access God’s Word and get His Word into us for conviction, edification, comfort, direction, motivation, and disciplined living under the power of the Holy Spirit. The dailies refer to the disciplines of getting into God’s Word and accessing the throne of grace daily. The weeklies refer to the discipline of weekly (regularly) assembling together with other believers for fellowship, thanksgiving, praise, prayer, one-another ministry, and the study of the Word: “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some…” (Heb.10:25a).

We describe these Dailies and Weeklies as spiritual disciplines because the term ‘discipline’ implies that the believer has a responsibility in the process of godliness. Will power or sheer determination is insufficient to free a person consistently from negative life-dominating habits. These spiritual disciplines are part of the means by which we are able to more intimately know God, relate to and rest in our new life in Christ, and experience true spiritual transformation and liberation from life-dominating patterns of sin. These daily and weekly spiritual habits are part of God’s gracious means of channelling our minds according to the Spirit. Through these exercises, the mind is filled with the things of Christ and restructured by the Spirit of God according to His Word so that we might walk in newness of life.

The dailies promote growth in devotion to God and the ability to grasp, personalize, believe, and apply the Scripture to our lives. The weeklies enhance our relationships with God and with one another. Where both are properly understood, imbibed, and experienced, there will be abundance of peace and true spiritual transformation from within through a deepening faith relationship with the living God. Our physical daily meals are undeniably important (Mt.6:11). However, the single most vital meal the believer should consume on daily consists of a focused time with God in His Word and in prayer. Job testified: “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12). We can receive similar Grace!

The Psalmist emphasized the significance of right fellowship as well as personal meditation in God’s Word: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Psa.1:1-2). The quality and consistency of our daily and weekly times with God – in His Word and prayer – depend on the value we place on them.

The early Church gave us the pattern to follow: “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers” (v.42). The result: “Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles” (v.43). Pursuing God through consistent times of prayers and the Word is undoubtedly demanding, but truly rewarding.  We can grow in grace and pay the price of discipline and inner motivation, to win the prize!