Just Do It

At the end of I Chronicles 28 we find an incredible “charge” to Solomon by his father David. It reads.

And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

In my nearly twenty years of living on this earth I have learned many things. Don’t touch the stove when it’s hot, keep your fingers away from car doors, and now I have graduated on to learning that my instructors are ALWAYS right, or, the thing I wished I had learned a long time ago, sometimes it’s probably best just to keep your mouth shut. But one of the most interesting things that I have found is how we humans are such skilled creatures at procrastination.

I am as guilty, if not more guilty, than anyone else when it comes to this dreaded topic. How much easier is it to just put off homework for tomorrow rather than do it now? And when tomorrow becomes today put it off again? Or how many years have we set up resolutions and by mid-January we find ourselves in the same place that we were when we started? It’s so easy to be gung-ho about projects when they begin, but as the weeks wear on we find ourselves less enamored with the task. I have a great example.

A few years ago my dad suggested to several of us in the youth group that we should start up our own blog. The first few months went great, but when the newness of the project wore off I quickly found myself finding other things to do. So now there is a three year gap in between my last two posts. Three years! Surely out of three years I had enough time to pull out a pen and write something that would encourage someone. But that is the way we are, and always will be unless we find a way to get out of the rut that we live in.

Sure it’s hard to lose that weight, get on the Bible reading program, read those twenty good books, or start that diet. But who wants to live their life and then look back and think of all the things that you could have done? Why not just do it? There is definitely going to be times of sacrifice and times where you really don’t feel like doing whatever “it” is, but sticking to a task through its completion is incredibly gratifying.

The task that Solomon was about to undertake would be the greatest in Israel’s history. The construction of the temple would take around seven years until it was finally complete. Surely sometime during those seven years discouraging setbacks occurred, and Solomon would wonder if all the work and time spent on it was really worth it. Yet when the temple was complete it was the most beautiful house of worship ever built.

It is interesting to note that, despite the magnitude of the project, Solomon receives only four verses of encouragement. There was no laying on of hands or parade for him. Furthermore he wasn’t slain in the Spirit, he didn’t take a few laps around the church, and he wasn’t even prayed for by a big name preacher at a big time conference. All he received was good advice. Wow. . .

How many times have we robbed ourselves of awesome spiritual blessings because we were waiting for some super spiritual experience? I’m guilty. I have said to myself several times that I am going to kick it up a notch for God after this camp or after a great altar service. But all I needed to do was just make up in my mind that I was going to do it no matter what. All we have to do is “just do it.” You don’t need a trans-earthly experience to begin your journey to knowing God more. It just takes a determination in your heart and the decision to do it.

As David said to Solomon, “Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.” God is with you. Who else do you need? We make it so hard on ourselves to get the thing that we need the most when God is saying, “if you really want it, just do it.” There is no secret formula, you just have to make up your mind and God will give you the strength for the journey.

You are never going to find a convenient time to go all out for God. Remember this; God did not call you to a life of convenience. He called you to a life of daily crucifying your will so that you can be in His perfect will. In Acts 24 we find Paul presenting the Gospel to Felix, but Felix says, “Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season I will call for thee.” That call never came. Living for God is tough and going all out for God even tougher. But we have God’s promise that he will never leave us or forsake us. Your strength is in Christ. Just Do It!

food for thought: Ecclesiastes 9:10
book: Don’t Waste Your Life – John Piper
quote of the post:
The best way to get something done is to begin. ~Author Unknown