Good morning friend!
What do your voluntary routines reveal about you?
Voluntary routines are not those things that you have to do, which if you don’t do could disrupt your life right away in a big way (e.g. Go to the bathroom when you get up, be at work or school on time, stop at a traffic red light, take the cholesterol medication, etc.), but the things you choose to do, which no one requires you to do, and life will still go on even if you don’t do them (e.g. Make your bed when you get up, floss your teeth daily, read the Bible & pray each morning, eat a healthy diet, etc.)
Imagine someone following you, without your knowledge, recording every choice and action of yours in a 72-hour (3-day) period. The ensuing list is divided into two columns: Necessary vs. Voluntary routines. Then, the list is made public (without revealing your identity). Could it be that your voluntary routines reveal the real you? After all, isn’t character who we are when no one is watching? And, isn’t what we routinely choose to do the greater determinant of the deeper longings of the soul – peace, integrity, respect, contentment, good health, etc.?
I suspect God knew this all along. That’s why He doesn’t force humans to do what He’d love for them to choose to do (Deuteronomy 30:19; Joshua 24:15). And it’s up to us, in our private lives, to make daily choices that result in God-honoring, life-enhancing, rest-producing, worth-emulating outcomes.
Time to evaluate your voluntary routines.