Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Attitude”
Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:13 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Just do it.”
I think it was it Yoda who said “There is no try, there is only do.” The emphasis in that statement is on the doing. Talking about doing something isn’t good enough. Even “trying” is only ok if that’s just the starting point. The object is to keeping trying until you do it. Years ago the shoe company Nike had a slogan that said “Just do it!” That’s good advice.
Many of us talk a good game. We have the best of intentions and we fully intend to accomplish this thing someday – just not today. Unfortunately if we’re in the habit of making excuses and procrastinating, then there will always be an excuse and someday will never come. And so, we need to “Just do it!”
One of the best strategies for just doing it is called “segmenting”. Segmenting is when we break down a goal or objective into smaller, easily managed pieces. Then we simply focus on accomplishing the smaller and easier part that we have before us right now, rather than focusing on the end objective. I recently read a great illustration of segmenting in the book “Resilience” by Eric Greitens. He used the example of a deeply depressed person trying to get out of bed:
“A person with severe depression might find it overwhelming to get out of bed in the morning. So, don’t do it. You don’t have to. You don’t have to get out of bed if it’s overwhelming. But you do have to ask yourself, Can I move my toes? Yes. Then do it. Can I move my fingers? Yes. Then do it. Can I open my eyes? Yes. Can I take in a deep breath? Yes. Can I put one leg over the side of the bed? Yes. Can I put another leg over the side of the bed? Can I put some weight on my heels? You’re out of bed.”
Segmenting works! Whether you’re simply trying to get out of bed, lose 50 pounds, or earn a college degree, break it down into smaller easily managed parts and then go forward one easy step at a time. Do enough of that and before long you will find yourself out of bed, or 50 pounds lighter, or crossing the stage to receive your diploma. Simple tasks offer fewer excuses. The more complicated you make something the more excuses you can create for not doing it. So make it simple and then just do it – one easy step at a time.
So don’t procrastinate. Don’t make excuses. Do something! Like Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:13 – ready your mind for action. Decide that you are going to do something and then do it. Excuses and procrastination are killers. They hold us back from ever achieving our dreams or making meaningful progress in life. The truth is that there is always something you can do to make your situation a little bit better than it is. So just do it.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 