Baby Steps

Success is the sum of small efforts - repeated day in and day out. (Robert Collier)

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. (I Corinthians 15:58 NLT)

Consistency in following Jesus is our goal. We don't do this with the greatest of ease, do we? We have these little fits and starts that keep us moving forward at a snail's pace sometimes. It is that 'sporadic' on again - off again walk that makes it seem like it is impossible to actually get anywhere in this spiritual walk. We might want to rethink that, though. Jesus might like to see our consistency, but he can definitely work with our 'sporadic' fits and starts! While the goal is to be strong and immovable, always 'spot on' in our commitment, we need not be down on ourselves when we find ourselves growing a little 'cold' in our commitments to prayer, worship, or even study of his Word. We just need to pick it up again, confess that we need his help to get back on track, and dig in once again.

Small efforts, repeated day in and day out - this is perhaps the greatest thing we can learn about consistency. It is about the 'BIG efforts' as much as it is about the small ones repeated time and time again. Read even a little scripture and you are taking a small step. Pray even a one-liner and you are taking another small step. Lift up just a few words of thanks and praise and you are one step closer to consistency. We make this too hard - setting lofty goals that are hard to reach. Set the goal of reading the whole bible through in a year and you might just find yourself bogged down by the daunting task of just 'reading' it. At the end of the year, you might have read it through, but did you digest it? Consistency isn't about the massive things we undertake - it is about the small things we do day in and day out that actually feed our spirit!

As Paul reminded the church at Corinth, NOTHING you do for the Lord is ever useless. Quite some time back, there was a movie about a man that couldn't get out of his house. His psychiatrist wanted him to take 'baby steps' toward his ultimate healing. One of the things I remember so vividly about the movie was the gentleman repeating the words, "Baby steps onto the bus, Baby steps off the bus". Baby steps got him out of his house, onto the bus, moving toward his goal of finding his therapist who had gone on vacation. Baby steps might just be all we can do right now. We might not be a social isolate like Bob was in that movie, but we have to realize that the steps we take today will help us tomorrow. We don't need to make them leaps or bounds - they just need to be BABY STEPS. Baby steps into the Bible, Baby steps into prayer, Baby steps into worship - Baby Steps into consistency! Just sayin!