This article is a sneak peek into Who Am I And Why Do I Matter? by Chris Morphew which helps kids and tweens grow in their faith and confidence by looking at what the Bible says about their identity. The book is available in both paperback and ebook formats. Check out the Big Questions series for more books giving kids Biblical answers to big questions about God.
What’s the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?
I’m guessing many of you would answer, Check my phone. It’s an easy habit to fall into. But it’s also a terrible way to start your day.
It’s not that our phones are all bad—but think about what you’re doing the moment you check your notifications or start scrolling through social media. You’re hooking yourself into an endless stream of other people’s opinions and priorities.
Which means that when you start your day on a device, you’re giving up your freedom to choose what you’re going to head into your day thinking and caring about.
You’re letting the internet choose for you.
If God feels distant and only half-real to us, what if that’s not because he isn’t showing up? What if it’s because we aren’t?
Or maybe that’s not you. Maybe instead of checking your phone when you wake up, you just launch straight into the day—shower, breakfast, throw on your clothes, race out the door.
But whether we start our day with distraction or with busyness, the result is the same: before we even realise it, we’re deep into our day without ever giving God a thought.
Which makes me wonder, if God feels distant and only half-real to us, what if that’s not because he isn’t showing up?
What if it’s because we aren’t?
In the Bible, Jesus shows us a very different set of habits:
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)
Remember Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness? That wasn’t just a one-off thing. The Bible tells us that Jesus often went away by himself to a quiet place to pray (Luke 5:16)—that he made a regular habit of taking time out to focus his attention on God his Father, to talk to him, and to let him set the direction of his day.
Another thing you notice when you read about Jesus in the Bible is how he knew his Bible—what we now call the Old Testament—front to back.
Again, back in the wilderness, when Jesus quoted the Bible to fight back against God’s enemy, that wasn’t a one-off. All through Jesus’ biographies, you see the same pattern repeated over and over again: no matter what situation he found himself in, Jesus always had some wisdom from the Scriptures to guide what he said and did.
“Well, of course he could do it”, you might say. “Jesus is God.” And that’s true—but he’s also fully human. And in his human life on earth, Jesus got to know the Bible the same way anyone does: by spending lots of time reading or listening to it.
A third habit Jesus committed to was living his life in community.
He made a regular practice of going to the synagogue (where people gathered to worship God). He lived his life in close friendship with his disciples, and he spent so much time hanging out at dinner parties that he got a reputation for being a wild party animal (Matthew 11:19).
As we copy Jesus’ habits, God’s Spirit will use them to transform our hearts and minds.
Remember, reflecting God’s image is something God made us to do together—and so it makes perfect sense that that’s how Jesus did it too.
Pray.
Read the Bible.
Spend time with other followers of Jesus. Focus your attention on God.
As you can see, none of these are incredible new ideas—but that’s exactly the point. And as we copy Jesus’ habits, God’s Spirit will use them to transform our hearts and minds.
So take a moment to think: what might be the next best step for you to make these habits a more regular part of your life?
Chris Morphew is an author, teacher, and school chaplain living in Sydney, Australia. He has written over 20 novels for children and youth, including his six-book young-adult series The Phoenix Files. Chris enjoys Mario Kart, obscure board games, and superhero movies. He has been told he looks like Chris Hemsworth from the back.
