Ed, my neighbor next door, is beginning to have a bit more time to himself, these day. Since Ed had to put another notch into his belt and go to a bigger pant size, he is now using his wife's treadmill in an effort to slim down. Ed told me the other day that he is spending his spare time on the treadmill.
"Have you also cut back on your food? Are you dieting?" I asked Ed.
"I sure am!"Ed told me.
"How many pounds are you down?" I inquired.
"Oh, about fifteen pounds give or take a couple," Ed replied.
"That is remarkable. You have only been at it a couple of weeks at most. You sure are doing well. Ruby must be proud of you, isn't she?" I enthusiastically asked Ed.
"No, Ruby is not impressed! She says that you can't call not eating when you are asleep dieting and that I have to get on a scale to say I've lost fifteen pounds," explained Ed.
"What did you say to that?" I asked Ed.
"I told her not to knock what she hasn't tried," replied Ed.
"Well at least you are using the treadmill and the exercise is good for you. How long are you on the treadmill each day?" I asked.
"I'm not on it every day, but at least once a week for fifteen minutes give or take a couple of minutes," Ed replied.
I'm not sure Ed is spending much of his time on the treadmill just yet, but at least he is spending some time there. Small beginnings can have great significance down the road. The Bible says, "Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark." Ed's desire to slim down may be still in the wishful thinking stage, but who knows if it may grow into a diligently pursued goal. Will Ed one day boast of being one of the world's biggest losers of weight? I hope so.
Behind success is motivation, enthusiasm, ambition and that spark that gets us started. If Ed is going to lose weight, he needs to remember that a person can succeed at almost anything with unlimited enthusiasm and ambition. The hard thing about them both is that they are not like blisters which show up after the work is done. Reaching a goal is the result of determination, which is the potent mixture of enthusiasm and ambition from the beginning to the end.
When it comes to God, often there is wishful thinking that God would be our servant giving us whatever we ask for in prayer. It is as if God should show us, or prove Himself to us.
Going back to the tread mill, we want God to run on it and lose the weight we need to for us. We want God to have our blisters. We need to say to God when it comes to the tread mill, "If I fail to show up Lord - track me down and send me there to start. If I stumble and fall off it - make me get back on. If my enthusiasm and ambition falter- walk on it beside me and encourage me." One may well be a success because of his or her determination, but only if one makes a start - even a small one.
