Chains of our Own Making

Scotty Smith, one of my Facebook friends, posted a quote from Martin Luther the other day. It said: "How soon 'not now' becomes never." That struck a chord with me because I am a procrastinator of the highest order--though I like to tell myself it's because I work best under pressure. We can always find socially acceptable excuses for our sins and shortcomings.

Ron Blocki, one of Scotty's FB friends commented by posting this quote from C.S.Lewis' Screwtape Letters: " No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we can keep it out of his will. As one of the humans has said, active habits are strengthened by repetition, but passive ones are weakened. The more often he feels without acting, the less he will ever be able to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel."

All of that reminded me of another thought that I came across somewhere a long time ago - We judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions. So often we excuse our disobedience and failures by saying: "Well, I meant to..." Our intentions were good, so supposedly that makes everything okay. But it doesn't really, does it? Having the intention of getting up early in the morning to pray, read the Word, exercise, or simply have more time to get things done doesn't achieve anything at all unless we actually DO it and see the intention through to action. Having the intention of going to someone we have wronged to apologize and restore the relationship does absolutely nothing towards healing. Having the intention of going out and meeting neighbors, or helping someone in need, or reaching out to that lonely person accomplishes not a thing towards those goals. We simply must act and, to quote Nike, "Just DO it!"

The danger of being satisfied with good intentions is that, as C.S.Lewis warns, we feel without acting and eventually will be less able to even feel. At that point, we lose even the empty comfort of our good intentions.

And here's another great quote to add: "Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteounsess?" (Romans 6:16,ESV) Having good intentions without following through with the necessary action simply makes us prisoners of our own inactivity, bound with chains of our own making.

May God grant each of us the will to obey.