Just Do It!

“Procrastination is the arrogant assumption that God owes you another opportunity to do what you had time to do.” Author unknown. Ouch! 

Some of us are worse than others, but we’ve all put off doing something, maybe because it’s too painful, too hard, or maybe we’re just too lazy to do it. As if the above statement wasn’t harsh enough, James 4:17 says, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” Double ouch!  

Our culture has become lazy. With smart devices that do everything for us, you really don’t have to think or move to get things done. You can tell your faucet to fill a pot with 2 cups of water or tell your oven to heat to a certain temperature! We laugh about people who talk about back in the day having to hold or turn an antenna of the TV just to get enough reception to watch a show. But I sometimes long for those simpler times.  

When everything is done for us, we become complacent, thinking that someone else will do it; so why bother? We get lazy about our responsibilities and the things we know we need to do. In 1988, Nike came up with an iconic campaign slogan “Just Do It.” There are those who live to run, but I dread it. I think this slogan was for people like me…you know you need to exercise, JUST DO IT! Very clever for their brand.  

Maybe what we lack is motivation, although it seems that verse out of James should do the trick! Why isn’t the thought of sinning against God motivation enough to do what needs doing? I have this written in my bible, “Do what you can do. Let God do what He can do. Don’t try to do what only God can do, and don’t expect Him to do what you’re supposed to do.” Whether you need to exercise, drop a bad habit, or tackle the 2-year-old to-do list…just do it.