Each state in the United States has at least one or more nicknames by which it is commonly known. I come from Minnesota, the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”, the birthplace of the Laker’s basketball team (after all, how many Lakes does LA have?). Ohio is known as the “Buckeye State” (if you look it up you’ll find it’s a tree with a neat nut that many feel brings good luck). Connecticut is known as the “Land of Steady Habits”, based on the state’s reputation for hardworking residents.
Steady habits can either make or break us, right? We all have habits we would love to leave behind and relegate to the rear-view mirror of life. A sedentary life stye, overeating and drinking, smoking, a negative mindset, and so on. As a New year begins, those bad habits that break us are formed into resolutions that we hope will place them behind us in the year now past.
Steady habits, though, can be an important formative element for our lives, especially as faith in Jesus is at the center. Many years back we had a Rally Day theme that revolved around Holy Habits, with learning stations that each represented one. In the Word, Prayer, Songs of Praise, and Sharing Jesus marked the encouraging activities that sent everyone away with intentionality to continue those Christ-centered habits that help to form Christ-centered living!
The writer to the Hebrews especially reminds us of a Holy Habit foundational to our Christian lives. One of the best habits a person can cultivate is faithfully joining God’s people to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ, the One who left His home to make His home in us. He has saved us, dying on the cross for our sins and rising again to be received by each of us through the gift of faith. Even in the early church people would forgo gathering with God’s people because of the busy-ness (business) of life. Being a disciple calls for discipline in the best sense of the term. This New Year, 2026, invites us to cultivate steady, holy habits for life, among which regular worship of God with His people is at the top of the list.
May the Holy Spirit give us joy in filling 2026 with Holy Habits and fruit-filled living for Jesus’ sake! A blessed New Year to all! Pastor Craig
Each state in the United States has at least one or more nicknames by which it is commonly known. I come from Minnesota, the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”, the birthplace of the Laker’s basketball team (after all, how many Lakes does LA have?). Ohio is known as the “Buckeye State” (if you look it up you’ll find it’s a tree with a neat nut that many feel brings good luck). Connecticut is known as the “Land of Steady Habits”, based on the state’s reputation for hardworking residents.