A three-legged stool needs all three legs to stand. So the Christian life requires three legs to know the joy Christ has saved us for.

Learn the Word of God

Not packaged devotionals, but Scripture. Not neglecting, dipping into, or skimming, but studying. Not just the New, but the Old Testament. Not just the familiar, but the unfamiliar: Leviticus, Obadiah, Amos, Obadiah, and even Nahum. Not for vibes, but understanding unto obedience and worship. Not part, but the whole. Not just personal reading, but public teaching. Not only privately, but corporately. Words, grammar, context, meditation. Page after page. His Word is my soul’s food.

Lean on the People of God

The Church is family, so I am obligated to the Church. Christianity is a team sport, so I need the Church and they need me. The church is not an event but a family and that family holds a weekly Sunday reunion I make sure to attend. Jesus’ Church is the team, school, hospital, and family I cannot live without. Without her, I am like an orphan on the street. With her, I am a son, brother, and father with a family to be loved by and to love.

Love the Heart of God

I have been created by the Word of God, made in the image of God, saved by the Son of God, filled with the Spirit of God, and I hunger to be satisfied by the beauty of God alone. His creation is marvelous, but the satisfaction my soul craves is sold separately from it. My deepest desires are met, my most painful wounds are healed, and my greatest joy is supplied by simply knowing Him in Christ and making Him known to others.

Among the many good habits I’ve learned, these are my food, drink, and oxygen. Without them, I fall. With them, I stand with joy unsurpassed.