Consistency
I have been thinking about this word a lot recently. For over a year now I have been trying to maintain a healthy balanced diet and weight. Previously I had come to the conclusion that to keep myself from the health conditions that my family had- namely heart disease and diabetes- I was going to have to do something about it. I wasn’t going to wish it away. I realized like never before that I needed to make some life style changes. I also realized that this was going to be something that I would have to adjust to for the rest of my life. Just going on a diet was not going to do the trick. And though I have no guarantee that I will never get those health conditions, I made up my mind that I was at least going to do my part to keep them away. I made a commitment to myself to change. Over this past year I have tried various things for the exercise that the health professionals say I must do in order to get down to the healthy weight they say I should be. At first I was walking, but with the arthritis in my knees that proved to be detrimental to my joints. Then I tried calisthenics- with this I had to be careful because it would also cause more damage to my knees. My latest thing was an exercise bike and strength training. So far I have been fairly successful with that, as long as I don’t overdo it. Recently I came to a plateau in my weight and though I was exercising regularly and trying to maintain a healthy diet, my weight was not going down any further. In fact, I was beginning to put weight back on. Knowing from my history that once I start putting weight back on just a little, in no time at all, I have gained back all that weight. Also I had begun to slip back into some of my old eating habits and wasn't being as careful as I should have been.
On my last visit to my doctor I was told that in order to maintain the amount of calories I was eating per day I would have to exercise on my bike for at least 1 ½ hours every day!! I promptly told her that was NOT going to happen. So my other choice was to go back on my diet, counting calories if I couldn’t keep up with that much exercise every day. My eyes were open that day to a hard truth. I had to do something about it once again. Being the way I am, I came home from that doctor’s visit and promptly jumped into some calisthenics and then rode my bike. Of course I overdid it! I was so sore and hurting for the next several days. Once again the word CONSISTENCY came to me. It isn’t the “marathon” days of exercising or denying myself of food that was going to do the job. It would be the day to day, week to week and month to month and even year to year CONSISTENCY that would get the job done. Over time with this CONSISTENCY I would begin once again to see a change.
The same thing happens to us in our spiritual lives. We may go for days without praying or reading our Bible . And then when conviction sets in we try to make up for lost time. We spend all day fasting, praying and reading. But this isn’t going to work. It is the little bit by little bit- day by day, week by week , month by month and year by year. Isaiah tells us in chapter 28:10 “For precept must be upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” It is the regular daily scheduled time of prayer and reading that makes the changes in us. We don’t change all at once. When we first get saved, there may be many things the Lord immediately takes from us. The other things take a while sometimes. We don’t turn into His image immediately. 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us: "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” It takes a lifetime to produce the character that the Lord would will in our lives. We must consistently and diligently progress towards that end. We don’t change overnight. God desires more to see a consistent life of praise, prayer and study of His Word, than seeing us go through those “marathon” days, and then not coming back to “His Table” for several days, weeks or months. Even if we slip or fall, our regular daily commitment to Him will bring us back into line. Just like when I got off my schedule of regular exercise and healthy eating- it was the COMMITMENT that I had made at the beginning of last year that brought me back into line.
You may have a desire to be great in the eyes of the Lord. But God said the greatest is the one who serves. Recently I was saddened by the death of Rev. David Wilkerson. He had started Times Square Church in New York City and was responsible for delivering the gospel to many gangs on the streets. He started Teen Challenge and many other outreaches. After reading comments and notes about him, it was always said of him that he was just obedient to the Lord. One wonders how one person could affect so many lives. But all it took was one person making a commitment to the Lord and being obedient to that commitment. It didn’t happen overnight. It happened over many years and I am sure many hours, days, weeks and months of consistency on his part.
Consistency--- day by day, little by little--- being transformed into His image- the image of Jesus Christ- from glory to glory. It is not a lot of “marathon” prayer meetings or fasting- but the simple everyday reading of His word, spending time in His presence. At the end of our journey- however short or long the Lord desires- the end goal will be to hear the Lord say: "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” Matthew 25:23
On my last visit to my doctor I was told that in order to maintain the amount of calories I was eating per day I would have to exercise on my bike for at least 1 ½ hours every day!! I promptly told her that was NOT going to happen. So my other choice was to go back on my diet, counting calories if I couldn’t keep up with that much exercise every day. My eyes were open that day to a hard truth. I had to do something about it once again. Being the way I am, I came home from that doctor’s visit and promptly jumped into some calisthenics and then rode my bike. Of course I overdid it! I was so sore and hurting for the next several days. Once again the word CONSISTENCY came to me. It isn’t the “marathon” days of exercising or denying myself of food that was going to do the job. It would be the day to day, week to week and month to month and even year to year CONSISTENCY that would get the job done. Over time with this CONSISTENCY I would begin once again to see a change.
The same thing happens to us in our spiritual lives. We may go for days without praying or reading our Bible . And then when conviction sets in we try to make up for lost time. We spend all day fasting, praying and reading. But this isn’t going to work. It is the little bit by little bit- day by day, week by week , month by month and year by year. Isaiah tells us in chapter 28:10 “For precept must be upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” It is the regular daily scheduled time of prayer and reading that makes the changes in us. We don’t change all at once. When we first get saved, there may be many things the Lord immediately takes from us. The other things take a while sometimes. We don’t turn into His image immediately. 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us: "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” It takes a lifetime to produce the character that the Lord would will in our lives. We must consistently and diligently progress towards that end. We don’t change overnight. God desires more to see a consistent life of praise, prayer and study of His Word, than seeing us go through those “marathon” days, and then not coming back to “His Table” for several days, weeks or months. Even if we slip or fall, our regular daily commitment to Him will bring us back into line. Just like when I got off my schedule of regular exercise and healthy eating- it was the COMMITMENT that I had made at the beginning of last year that brought me back into line.
You may have a desire to be great in the eyes of the Lord. But God said the greatest is the one who serves. Recently I was saddened by the death of Rev. David Wilkerson. He had started Times Square Church in New York City and was responsible for delivering the gospel to many gangs on the streets. He started Teen Challenge and many other outreaches. After reading comments and notes about him, it was always said of him that he was just obedient to the Lord. One wonders how one person could affect so many lives. But all it took was one person making a commitment to the Lord and being obedient to that commitment. It didn’t happen overnight. It happened over many years and I am sure many hours, days, weeks and months of consistency on his part.
Consistency--- day by day, little by little--- being transformed into His image- the image of Jesus Christ- from glory to glory. It is not a lot of “marathon” prayer meetings or fasting- but the simple everyday reading of His word, spending time in His presence. At the end of our journey- however short or long the Lord desires- the end goal will be to hear the Lord say: "Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” Matthew 25:23
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