Read this interesting article this morning. The author reminds us that even devotions can be counter productive if they become so routine that we stop thinking about what we are reading, and worship songs can be meaningless if we stop thinking about the words we are really saying. Here is a snippet.

The key to spiritual growth is developing healthy and holy routines. We call them spiritual disciplines. But once the routine becomes routine, we need to disrupt the routine or it becomes counterproductive. It’s so easy for sacred routines to become empty rituals when we do them out of left-brain memory instead of right-brain imagination. I’m certainly not suggesting that routines are bad. Most of us practice a morning ritual that includes showering, brushing our teeth, and putting on deodorant and I would encourage you to continue those routines. But there is a Catch-22 when it comes to routines: good routines become bad routines if we don’t change the routine.

One of the greatest dangers we face spiritually is learning how and forgetting why. Call it familiarization. Call it habituation. Call it routinization. The lack of variety in our personal devotions, or even church gatherings, dulls the senses, numbs the mind, and atrophies the soul. The routines, which were intended to bring life, can kill us spiritually by becoming a form of legalism. (emphasis in the original)

(HT: Kevin Barnes via facebook)