I’m learning some lessons about consistency these days.I have been golfing while on vacation recently. I sometimes forget how fun and frustrating (at the same time) that game is. I made some Tiger-esque shots that were absolutely amazing – if I do say so myself. But the problem is that I cannot make those shots consistently. In fact, I’m just as likely to top the ball off the tee and barely dribble it to the women’s tee box. Or scald a 20 yard chip shot 40 yards past the green. Or slice my shot 3 fairways to the right. I’m not consistent.
And my blogging has been inconsistent lately, too. I’ve had three extended trips away from home already this summer, and all of them have been in places where access to the internet is difficult, if not impossible. I would have given ya’ll some warning, but something feels weird about announcing to the internet world that I will be away from my house for a while. At worst, it is an invitation for someone to rob us. More likely, it is an invitation for some locals to be squirrelly. I mean, Jonathan and Cory both have a sneaky, mischievous side and I wouldn’t put it past them to do something like Saran Wrap our house. Robyn and Megan are both still in Conway, and I can just picture all the toilet paper they could throw around late at night while hopped up on sugar and caffeine and giggling uncontrollably. And Tara lives just one street over from me. *Shiver.* The problem is that inconsistent bloggers lose readers. So I’m back to blogging more consistently now. No more summer vacations. I’ll probably be blogging about 2 times a week until school starts up again. Then I’ll bump it up to 3 or 4 times a week.
My Sunday School class is studying the book of Acts and we are discovering that consistency was also the key to success for the early church. Everywhere you turn, you find the early believers being consistent in their teaching and preaching. It was ALL about Jesus – his life, death, and resurrection. It seems that this consistency was what brought growth (and persecution) to the early church. I could insert some commentary and criticism here about our churches today and whether Jesus in still consistently at the center of our work. But more importantly for me today, I’m reminded of my own personal spiritual inconsistency. If I want to be successful – in golf, in blogging, in my spiritual life – I’ve got to be more than consistently inconsistent.
AN
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6 comments:
You are not alone my friend. Jen and I had this discussion yesterday after church. Great post. SK
When asked what makes a mature Christian I've often said that it is a person who is consistant in their walk with the Lord. Not one who doesn't screw up but one who does and yet never looses faith and keeps on trying. Being consistant or disiplined in Bible study, prayer and service indeed seems to be the hardest thing for Christians to be in this day and age. Is it a matter of the "will" to be so or the working of the Holy Spirit? What comes first the chicken or the egg?
This is an important point. We cannot live the Christian life on our own willpower. It must be done be letting the Holy Spirit work in us and though us.
But we must remember that discipline is important, too. I can't just coast through life and expect Jesus to be glorified much by that. It takes hard work, discipline, practice, and sacrifice to develop our faith.
I just don't do those things very consistently.
I've committed to running in a 5K next Spring. In a weird sort of way, I'm actually looking forward to training for that. The discipline it takes to run 4-5 times a week will be a good lesson for me.
AN
Why wait until spring to start running? That's my problem most of the time. I will start something...tomorrow or next week. Now is a much beter time.
Anonymous (the last one),
Good question.
Answer #1. I'm not a very disciplined person. And with something like this, I need to see a payoff for my hard work. If I start training now, the payoff (the 5k race) won't be until May and I'm afraid I'll get discouraged. If I wait until January, the payoff is much closer.
Answer #2. I'm lazy.
honest answer Aaron but wouldn't it be better if the payoff was the training and the incentive was merely the race? A paycheck is the payoff for working but even without a check we are better off working than not.
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