Daily
Devotional

“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” – Ecclesiastes 9:10

Have you ever read a newspaper column and wondered how the writer comes up with something new to write about every day? I have! As a member of the group of volunteers who write daily devotionals for our church website, I have learned one strategy that helps: when I get an idea for a story, I start writing immediately.

Most of us who submit devotional material are not professional writers, just concerned Christians who want to do all we can for the cause of Christ. I sincerely want my writing to be inspired by God, and I pray to Him for divine guidance. When I become enthused over a particular assignment, I know I had better start writing without delay. If I put it off, the enthusiasm tends to fade, and, unfortunately, so does the quality of the final product.

As I thought about this, I realized that this principle of “quick obedience” applies to all aspects of the Christian life. It reminds me of the saying I used to hear that “slow obedience is not obedience at all.” For example, if God is leading us to witness to someone today and we choose to wait a while, it may not have the same effect later. Worse yet, the task may seem more difficult then, and we may never get to it at all.

Have you ever thought of sending a card to someone in the hospital, only to put it off and later learn that they are already back home? At the very least, the opportunity to cheer up that friend has been missed, and perhaps the card would have had an even bigger effect if it had been sent when you first thought of it. Or, maybe there is a restitution that needs to be made. This cannot wait; it needs to be done now. For some of us, there may be a problem to straighten out between us and another person. This is almost never easy, but it must be done—and the sooner the better. Even if we feel that we are right, Scripture enjoins us to go to the other person and resolve the disagreement.

We could add all sorts of examples to this list. The point is that if we are following God, we must show Him that we will act in a timely manner upon His leadings. Whatever we need to do, let us get started quickly.