The only person in the planet who is worthy of total imitation is the Lord Jesus. The Scriptures exhort us to imitate him. I punched the words “often” and “always” in my NIV online Bible. You see, I was trying to narrow down on the things that Jesus often and always did when he walked on this earth. I figured out that he was doing five things often and always. You’ve got it – they were his habits! If your question is “What were they?”, here is the answer:

1. THE HABIT OF SPENDING TIME WITH HIS FATHER

What was the first habit Jesus had? Ask Luke. He pens, ‘But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer’ (5:16 NIV). The crowds were constantly around Jesus. At night, when He wanted to take a rest, a Nicodemus would show up. Busy – he was. But he prayed. ‘Often!’ Don’t just mumble here- and-there prayers. Instead, become a “pray-er” – a person of prayer!

2. THE HABIT OF STUDYING THE SCRIPTURES

I waded through the Gospels to spot yet another Jesus’ ‘often’-acts – what he usually did. His ‘customs’. I had to rewind by exactly one chapter in the Gospel of Luke: “He went to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was His custom. And He stood up to read” (Luke 4:16). No thumb-index those days. Just thick scrolls. Jesus was handed the scroll of the book of Isaiah. 

He found the place where the prophet spoke about Him. How could he manage that? I’ll tell you. He had often read the scroll of Scriptures. Six times Jesus shot this question in the Gospel narratives. What question? “Haven’t you ever read…?” (Math 12:3,5; 19:4; 21:16; 21:42; 22:31). I find it incredible that the ‘Word in Flesh’ – Jesus – took time off to read regularly the ‘Word in Parchment’! But I find even more incredible how our generation treats the written Word of God – the Bible. We are regularly irregular in Bible 

Meditation! This must change!

3. THE HABIT OF SOLIDARITY WITH HIS DISCIPLES

I journeyed my way through the Gospels to cull out yet another habit of Jesus. It was the habit of meeting up with his disciples – his close pals – in the Garden of Gethsemane (Jn 18:2). Judas knew this habit of Jesus.  This was why He was able to race to the Garden of Gethsemane to give him the betrayal kiss. Jesus did not shy away from building friendship with stumbling, embarrassingly erratic human beings. I was stunned by the fact that the Creator-in-flesh would seek companionship with His own creation – his disciples who sometimes were more like a bunch of jokers! In our Narrow-road walk we cannot afford to be aloof from other believers. We need friends. We need fellowship. Church-attendance should not be neglected. 

4. THE HABIT OF SHARING THE GOOD NEWS 

My quest for Jesus’ fourth habit ended in Mark 10:1. “Then Jesus left Capernaum and went southward to the region of Judea and into the east of the Jordan river. As always there were the crowds and as usual He taught them.” Jesus had yet another habit – the habit of teaching people around him about the Father in Heaven and the Kingdom of God. Witnessing for Jesus should not be a once-in-a-while thing. It must become our  habit. 

There were things that Jesus often and always did 

You’ve got it – they were his habits

Lets copy them in our lives bit by bit!