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Friday, May 13, 2011

Quiet Time: Do What's In Front of You

Do What's In Front of You

Read: Matthew 25:14-30

Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. – Matthew 25:16

The best way to get a job done is to just do it. “Well, duh”, you say! “If I did what needs to be done every time I thought about doing it, it wouldn’t need to be done at all”. True, but there’s no getting around the fact that life is filled with, “Do what’s in front of you” opportunities my wife is one of the best getter done people I know.

Des can clean an entire house in the time it takes most people to clean a kitchen. This is not an exaggeration, I know, I’ve clocked her against myself, my family and my friends (she ministers by helping people get their homes in order from time to time). I asked her how she does it and she said, “I just don’t stop.” In other words, she does what’s in front of her; then, when she’s done with what’s in front of her she moves on until there’s nothing left in front of her. Pretty simple, huh? No preplanning, no real forethought, just do it- just work.

When you think about it, there are very few jobs that require a lot of set up or deliberation. I’ve worked with several churches that spent hours in planning sessions. We had committee meetings, staff meetings, and counsel meetings. These weren’t bad in and of themselves, but they seemed to offer a false sense of accomplishment. You see, sometimes planning made us feel like we’d actually done something, but in reality, until we in fact worked the job, the job still needed to be worked. If someone would have simply taken the task in hand and fixed what was in front of them, the entire church would’ve benefitted.

“Just Do It” wasn’t originated by a popular shoe company, it is a proverb written millenniums past:
Hard work always pays off;
mere talk puts no bread on the table. - Proverbs 14:23 (The Message)

So, the next time we feel like putting off what needs to be done, or are nonplused about where to begin, let’s trust God’s promise and just start by doing what’s in front of us.

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