Watchword
(Acts 2.42-47; Psalm 23; John 10.1-10)
Must I not take care to say what the Lord puts into my mouth? Numbers 23.12
Jesus said, “I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.” Luke 6.27
Proverbs 26: 15
The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
It wears him to bring it back to his mouth.
For the couch potato, the problem is not that this task is too hard - every task is too hard! Even the most basic motions are too onerous to bring to conclusion. Go ahead and ask lazybones: He’ll tell you that life is hard!
The sluggard starts…really well! But follow the trail of deeds half done and you’ll soon overtake him. As you walk up he’ll be settling down for another siesta or frantically starting something new.
Do you bring things to closure? How many times did I hear my dad repeat his favorite slogan: “Attention to detail and closure.” It is just at these two points where people mark themselves as sluggish or diligent.
Finish things you begin. Be cool, stay in school until graduation. Finish sentences that you’ve bothered to start. Give concentration to one chore before you start another.
This finishing will cost you, especially some other startings. You’ll have to dismiss most of your good ideas that occur while you’re still working out the first one. It will take time to finish, more than you would think. You’ll have to slow down your thoughts and think through the job to its completion. You’ll need more time than you think at the end of things.
Every duty that God gives you He gives the strength and imagination to carry out. If you are overwhelmed, consider that one of the reasons might be you’re strung out: you’ve begun Scene III before the scenery is exchanged from Scene II; introduced the new play while the curtain drops on the previous.
Bible Reading: Romans 11:1-6
As I write this I’m on an airplane with a fellow missionary - but his is a Messianic Jewish ministry! God has not deserted his people!
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