“HE LEADETH ME IN THE PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE” (PS. 23:3)

I. SUPPOSE YOU HEARD SOMEONE SPEAK 14 SENTENCES. AS THESE 14 SENTENCES WERE SPOKEN, THE SPEAKER REPEATED ONE WORD 15 TIMES.

A. This kind of presentation would get our attention.

B. We would focus in on the word that was being used over and over.

C. There is a place in the Bible where this thing occurs.

D. The place is Jn. 10; the speaker is Jesus.

E. The Lord is giving the good shepherd discourse.

F. Jn. 10:6 says that this is a parable that disciples did not understand.

G. Until this week, I had not looked at how many times the word sheep is used.

H. After I looked at this text, I was really surprised.

I. The word sheep is used 15 times in 14 sentences. Jesus compared people to sheep many times.

J. Jn. 10 is not the only place where Jesus compared people to sheep.

K. At least 7 times in the gospel of Matthew, people are compared to sheep.

L. Mark and Luke also have references.

M. What the Lord did causes me to ask a question—

N. Why did Jesus compare people to sheep again and again?

O. Why didn’t the Lord pick oxen, camels, dogs, or something else?

P. I may not know all of the reasons, but I am pretty sure of one thing.

Q. People and sheep share some common characteristics.

R. One example is that people and sheep are creatures of habit.

S. If sheep do not have a shepherd to move them around:

1) They will follow the same trails until ruts are formed. (They refuse to go another way.)

2) They will graze in the same areas until land becomes barren.

3) They will pollute the same chunk of land until it is corrupted with disease.

T. These actions do not seem to make much sense.

U. You may wonder, “How do these things tie in with humanity?”

V. The parallel is this: Sheep find habits hard to break.

W. If they are used to grazing in Mr. Jones pasture, they will continue to do so.

X. If they are used to following a trail up a hill, they want to always follow the trail.

Y. Sheep have a very strong sense of habit. The reason for this is found in Ps. 23:3.

Z. People are like sheep in this way.

A. I know of no better illustration of this than marriage.

B. Listen sometime to husbands and wives talk about their relationship.

C. If you listen for very long, you will find out about some habits.

D. You may learn that a husband leaves his clothes on the floor

E. although his wife has asked him not to leave clothes on the floor about 1,000 times.

F. A wife may leave toothpaste in the sink.

G. Though this wife has been asked again and again to wash out the toothpaste.

H. Well over a dozen similar examples could be offered.

I. My question is, “Why do these situations persist?”

J. Do annoying habits continue because love is lacking?

K. Doesn’t a man respect his wife enough to pick up his clothes?

L. Or is it the case that we have difficulty in breaking habits?

M. Jesus suggested the latter idea, when He compared us to sheep.

N. Once habits are formed, they are very, very difficult to break.

II. BECAUSE BAD HABITS ARE HARD TO END, THE RIGHT COURSE OF ACTION IS TO AVOID STARTING BAD HABITS, AND TRAIN PEOPLE TO HAVE GOOD HABITS.

A. This training will ideally start in the early years of life.

B. Several people who attend here have young children.

C. These children are going to develop some habits.

D. We cannot stop them from developing habits; habits are a way of life.

E. As parents, we want to help our children have the right habits.

F. As parents, we need to function like shepherds.

G. Good shepherds keep their flocks from bad habits.

H. We can and must do the same with our children.

I. What I am saying is really tied in with Prov. 22:6. QUOTE.

1) Some years ago I remember this verse being brought up in Bible class.

2) The man who spoke up had two teenage children.

3) This man asked the teacher, “Isn’t this verse a promise?”

4) “Don’t you believe that this verse is a guarantee?”

5) The teacher correctly answered, “NO”.

6) The book of Proverbs contains general principles.

7) Proverbs outlines how things in life usually go.

8) Solomon knew that if a child were given proper habits,

9) Later in life those habits would usually stick with him/her.

10) Solomon was right.

J. As parents, we have a chance to pass on good habits to our children.

K. In this lesson, I will list some of the habits we can convey to our kids.

L. The first habit we can pass on to our children is prayer.

M. Most of us remember the story of Cornelius in Acts 10.

N. This man was a good man who needed to hear the gospel.

O. Before this man became a Christian, he was in the habit of praying.

P. Acts 10:2 says he “prayed to God always.”

Q. This man was not alone regarding this habit.

R. The OT refers to Daniel; he prayed 3 times a day.

S. Tied in with prayer is worship.

T. Children can become accustomed to attending services.

U. Once this habit is in place, children rarely ask:

V. “Are we going to services?”

W. They ask, “When are we leaving?”

X. Making worship a habit is following Christ’s example.

Y. The Bible says that Jesus had a habit of worshipping.

Z. This information is in Luke 4.

A. In Luke 4, we read about how the Lord began his ministry.

B. In fact, the Lord’s baptism is recorded in Luke 3.

C. Luke 4 records for us what happened at a synagogue in Nazareth.

D. I will be reading form v. 16.

E. READ.

F. Luke says that it was Christ’s custom to go to the synagogue.

G. What does the word custom mean? Habit. Practice. Way of life.

H. This was part of the Lord’s lifestyle.

I. Here is an interesting point to ponder.

J. Jesus was about 30 years old and was getting to the heart of his mission.

K. By this time in life, Christ was in the habit of going to the synagogue.

L. What does this say about the Lord’s parents (Mary)? It says:

M. They formed in the Lord’s life the habit of worship.

N. If we train our children properly, this habit will be formed.

O. Other important habits to be taught include:

1) Fairness,

2) Treating people equally,

3) Extending the love of Christ to all men,

4) Being honest in all aspects of life,

5) Being kind and gentle to others,

6) Expressing respect to others,

7) Good citizenship,

8) Keeping one’s word,

9) Telling the truth,

10) Studying God’s word,

11) And being actively involved in the work of the church.

P. Children will develop some kind of habit in all of these areas.

Q. There is very little neutral ground in the areas I listed.

R. If we desire for our children to have the right habits,

S. We need to train them.

1) This job of training them does not belong to a school;

2) It does primarily involve me or the elders;

3) It is not the job of some relative.

4) This is parental responsibility.

5) Parents need to work on helping their children develop good habits.

T. If we do not help them learn good habits,

U. There is an excellent chance that they will grow up with bad ones.

V. I have yet to meet a parent who wants a child with bad habits.

III. AS PARENTS WORK WITH THEIR CHILDREN TO LEAD THEM IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, CHILDREN CAN DO THEIR PART. BY THIS I MEAN THAT:

A. Young people ultimately decide about the habits they want to have.

B. I have known of young people who decided to become smokers.

C. I have known of young people who got involved with alcohol.

D. In a number of cases, alcohol and smoking became habits.

E. Drugs have almost always if not always been started by choice.

F. This choice has led a great majority of people to be habitual users.

G. Other habits include lying and cheating.

H. These kinds of habits really get a hold on people.

I. About 3 years ago a parent confided in me about a teenager.

J. This teenager was a habitual liar.

K. To illustrate the situation, I will use a fake example.

1) The parents of this teen came home and found a broken lamp.

2) The parents asked the teen, “Did you break the lamp?”

3) The teen said, “Yes, I broke the lamp.”

4) This statement was really a lie. A dog broke the lamp.

L. This is the kind of thing that these parents were facing.

M. They were baffled as to why this kind of lie would be told.

N. Why wouldn’t the teen tell the truth and rightfully blame the dog?

O. I can answer this question with one word: habit. (compulsion)

P. Breaking a bad habit, at least for most, is very difficult.

Q. Because habits are so powerful, addictive might be a better word,

R. Young people need to be careful.

S. They need to listen when people warn them about addictive habits. (Smoking, alcohol, drugs, etc.)

T. The warnings that are sounded by parents and others are right.

1) There used to be a 3 person family in a major U.S. city.

2) Mom and Dad were divorced. The Mom sold herself; Dad did odd-jobs; and the boy was on the street.

3) For food, the boy ate pizza from dumpsters.

4) A “nice man” found this young boy and took him in. He had fine food, clothing, and shelter.

5) In time, the man offered the boy a job delivering packages.

6) The boy was naïve, and didn’t know what he was delivering.

7) When the boy found out he was distributing drugs, he didn’t stop because of habit.

8) One day, this boy was on a street corner,

9) A grungy man came up and demanded drugs the boy for free.

10) The boy refused. The rough-looking man took out a gun, shot the boy, and took the drugs.

11) Habit led this drug addict to murder.

12) The story does not end here.

13) Police investigators made a startling discovery- the grungy man who wanted the drugs was the father of the boy he shot.

14) Bad habits can have severe consequences.

U. Some present this evening still have habits to form.

V. I want to encourage you to remember the story, and form good habits.

W. Form habits that are in harmony with the golden rule.

X. Form habits that go along with 1 Thess. 5:22- “Abstain from…”.

Y. By all means, stay away from habit forming products such as alcohol, illegal drugs, and cigarettes.

Z. Develop habits that are righteous (good, wholesome).

A. This same teaching applies to adults.

B. As grownups, we have habits; some are good, some are bad.

C. As we continue to live the Christian life,

D. We want to decease the number of bad habits and increase the number of good.

E. We must work on having righteous (good) habits.

CONCLUSION:

1. This kind of work is largely tied in with individuals and families.

2. It may be appropriate for you this week to start developing some new habits.

3. If this is what you need to do, may God help you in your efforts.

4. On the other hand, if you have been in the habit of living as a non-Christian,

5. That habit can be changed within the next few minutes.

6. Tonight you can become a Christian.