Building Consistency

Building Consistency

by Pastor Jim May

If there is one thing that will help each of us to become the man or woman of God that God wants us to be, its “consistency”. I am convinced that the biggest reason that many people never grow into a place of spiritual maturity where they can be really used by God is that they are inconsistent in their walk with the Lord.

Last night, as I was reading the Bible, searching for a message from the Lord for this church, I was prompted by the Holy Ghost to look up the word “Daily” in a concordance. It was as though God was saying that we needed to learn how to live for Him in a more consistent manner. All to often I see the people of God, including myself, who get inconsistent with their walk before the Lord. It’s an easy thing to do to become inconsistent. Life’s pressures and the events of everyday living can so easily draw us away from where our focus should be. Life has a way of filling every minute of your day beginning from the time you awake in the morning.

Have you ever had to argue with yourself as to whether you would open your eyes or not in the morning? I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I have had to force this old body of flesh out of the bed at times, in fact, most of the time. There is just something un-natural about having to get up before the chickens every morning. Didn’t God create us just a little higher than the chickens? If He did, then why do they get to sleep later and go to bed earlier than we do? Sometimes I envy those chickens until I remember where they are destined to become someone’s dinner.

There are times when my alarm goes off in the morning that I just want to turn it off and forget the whole thing, at least for a few more hours. But I have that marvelous little invention that I love so much. It has added so much more peace and rest to my life and almost makes the alarm clock bearable. That little invention is the “Snooze Button”!

That alarm goes off and I reach over to hit that little snooze button, then the argument begins. I start arguing with my eyes. “All right, which of you is going to be first to open this morning.” Not me”, says the left eye. “Not me either, says the right eye. “I was the first one open yesterday, it’s lefty’s turn today.” “So what, didn’t you hear the doctor say that I was the weaker eye yesterday? No sir, I’m not going first.”

Then the arms and legs get into the mix. The left arm says, “I’m still asleep. I’ve sleep so hard that I feel numb and can’t move. Mr. Right over there is going to have to turn us over and push us up today.” Then Mr. Right Arm says, “Oh no you don’t. You are always complaining about me being the strongest and getting all the attention so let’s see just how good you really are. You just wake up and do your job.”

Then the legs kick in. They start complaining about being twisted up in the covers and can’t move and how that they are always the first ones out of the bed every time and they get tired of having to carry the whole load. “Why don’t you arms trade places with us for a while, then maybe you would both shut up this constant bickering over who is strongest or who has the most control and dexterity.”

I want to tell you that before it’s over, Mr. Brain has to seize control over the whole thing and start forcing every one of them, the eyes, the arms and the legs, to get moving before the war begins.

I’ll bet you never thought about the fact that you have that kind of war going on inside of you every day did you? The disciple James had that same problem I think because he said in James 4:1, "From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?" The lust for sleep and rest cause the war and fighting in our bodies every morning, at least for most of us.

That war can go on for a long time until finally Mr. Bladder speaks up and says, “Well you guys can stay here and argue but I’m getting up and that’s that.”

Now, if we begin our morning in some similar fashion as this, the members of our body fighting against one another and we have to begin our day by conquering and forcing our own body to obey the mind then it isn’t hard to understand why we are always so inconsistent with serving the Lord. The spirit is willing but the flesh is so weak!