S07E002, Just Do It, Endurance

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In this episode, Nathan and Steven encourage us to do what we are supposed to do without procrastination - to just do it.

Endurance is your weekly spiritual workout, whether you think of yourself as a beginner, an intermediate, or advanced!

#GoDeeper

Steven begins this week’s GoDeeper with an obvious example from exercise and a warning against procrastination. He refers to Ephesians 5:16, which tells us to make the most of every opportunity.

Steven confesses that he is superb at procrastinating but helps us see that it is wrong. He challenges us with a passage from James which speaks of faith with actions. Ultimately Steven challenges us to make the most of every opportunity and to just do whatever God is calling us to do.

#GoDo

Nathan and Steven talk about how and why the ‘Just Do It’ way of thinking is often not only necessary but Biblical.

Sometimes, it’s better to ‘just do it’, even if we don’t feel like it or circumstances aren’t ideal. Otherwise, we waste time and opportunity that we may never get back.

Check out this week’s episode to find how the phrase ‘Just Do It’ helps us in our Faith and Fitness.

Steven and Nathan

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[00:00:00] Nathan: They say procrastination is the thief of time, and I'd agree with that. Hello and welcome to Endurance, where faith and fitness meet. This week we're looking at the phrase, Just Do It. And often that is the most fruitful and effective way to live because when we delay, when we procrastinate, we waste a lot of time and it's very unfruitful and it's often quite depressing.

[00:00:37] Nathan: So rather than putting off jobs to the last minute, the best way to do things, certainly according to Booker T. Washington, is to do it as early as possible in the day. Stay tuned for Go Deeper, up next.

[00:00:56] Jo: You'll never guess what. Dave the Dog has his [00:01:00] own show and it's called Dave Unleashed. 

[00:01:03] Steven: Are we sure about this? 

[00:01:04] Jo: Well, I'm gonna be there on hand. I'm gonna help him. 

[00:01:08] Steven: Mmm. What, what mayhem are we to expect? 

[00:01:12] Jo: Well, to keep him on track, he's got Story Time, he's got Art Time, so you know. And I'll be there to help him.

[00:01:20] Steven: What could possibly go wrong?

[00:01:34] Steven: So here we are for another Go Deeper, where we go deeper into our topic for Endurance. And as Nathan said, we're talking about, Just Do It, the expression that's used quite a lot to just do something. So in exercise sometimes we can hesitate, not really feel up to it, but to just do it anyway, to just do that, go for that run, or just do that workout that we know we should do.

[00:01:53] Steven: And the same goes for life. They say that procrastination is the thief of time, when we put off jobs over and over, [00:02:00] and that's sort of what we're looking at today. So first Scripture, Ephesians 5 16 is one we've quoted a lot. It's a favourite in this family. 5, 15 to 16. Pay careful attention then to how you walk, not as unwise people, but as wise, making the most of the time because the days are evil.

[00:02:19] Steven: So basically saying we need to make the most of every opportunity, because, in these evil days, we don't know when we'll next get that opportunity. So, for example, if you put off a job that requires good weather and you put it off during the good weather and then it rains like, what's it called? Make hay while the sun shines.

[00:02:37] Steven: We have to make the most of the opportunities as they come. We have to Just Do It before we lose that chance. Procrastination is something I'm very good at. I am properly skilled. I think I should get like a certificate or qualification. I can put off jobs for absolutely ages. It's something that I do struggle with, to just do it.

[00:02:56] Steven: Jobs that I don't wanna do or work or studying, I can put it [00:03:00] off right to the last minute. Even though I do a lot better when I study sooner, I can be tempted to push it off right to the last minute. And that's something I struggle with and need to not do cuz it is indeed the thief of time. 

[00:03:13] Steven: But do you know when people say that they should do something or there's something suggested, particularly in churches, and they use the excuse, well, we'll pray a little bit longer about it. And really it's just procrastination. That's something that came to mind as I was writing this. We can use prayer as a way of putting off what God has asked us to do, and that's something we shouldn't do. Cuz James 2 15 to 19 says basically about faith and works and the importance of how they go hand in hand.

[00:03:39] Steven: So it's a big passage. I'll just read this. If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, stay warm and be well fed, but you don't give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.

[00:03:56] Steven: But someone will say, you have faith and I have works. [00:04:00] Show me your faith that works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. Good. Even the demons believe, and they shudder. 

[00:04:09] Steven: The point being that action is really important to demonstrate our Christian faith, to demonstrate our Christian walk, to demonstrate anything.

[00:04:18] Steven: Words are cheap at the end of the day. You can say you do loads of things, but unless you actually act it out, it doesn't mean anything. And that is the purpose of Just Do It, to have some action, to see some something done. When God calls you to something, don't put it off for later. When you have an opportunity to go for a run, don't put it off for later, cuz the chances are it'll rain the next day, which I have seen loads and loads.

[00:04:42] Steven: I can hesitate and all the rest of it, but we need to act first of all when we can, but not always. Sometimes there is an element, there's a caveat, that sometimes we don't rush into opportunities cuz we might not get another one. We shouldn't rush into them. We should prayerfully go into them. It [00:05:00] is wise to pray about things, but we shouldn't just use that as an excuse to put it off.

[00:05:03] Steven: We should Just Do It.

[00:05:20] Jo: The newsletter, BerryBytes, is back.

[00:05:23] Andy: Yay. 

[00:05:23] Jo: And in a very exciting format. We really, I say we, Andy in particular, has really changed it, and it's there to update you, but encourage and inspire you as well.

[00:05:33] Andy: Yeah, it's not just saying, Look at what we've done, aren't we awesome? Although maybe that's part of it.

[00:05:37] Andy: Actually, the first thing that you see is designed to encourage and inspire you, something that you can share to somebody else to encourage and inspire them as well. So go to www.BerryBunch.org and check out Newsletter, Sign Up, dead simple, and you'll get the BerryBytes Newsletter.[00:06:00] 

[00:06:13] Nathan: Okay, so here we are for the last segment of Endurance, where we give you some things to Go Do, and we further discuss the topic, which of course is the phrase, Just Do It. 

[00:06:24] Steven: Mm. 

[00:06:26] Nathan: And I thought your talk was very good, very interesting. That Scripture, which I really like, Ephesians 5, 15 to 16, which basically means make the most of the time because the days are evil.

[00:06:37] Steven: Make the most of every opportunity. 

[00:06:40] Nathan: Yeah, absolutely. And that's really important, especially for us as Christians. We don't wanna waste what God has given us. God's given us life. He's given us time, He's given us a body. We don't wanna waste that and just spend our whole time procrastinating. As you said, it's the thief of time.

[00:06:56] Steven: Yeah, absolutely. Procrastination is the thief of time. When we [00:07:00] procrastinate and put off a task, we are wasting time, valuable time, which God has given us. 

[00:07:05] Nathan: Yeah, absolutely. So it's, yeah, it's really important that we don't procrastinate because, at the end of the day, that robs you of so much achievement, so much fulfillment, when you procrastinate and delay things because you don't want to do them.

[00:07:20] Nathan: I suppose, in a way, we're often tempted to wait for the perfect time, wait for the perfect weather to go for a run, wait for the perfect time when, we feel good. But we can't wait for that because it may never come. 

[00:07:32] Steven: Well, yeah, it may never come, but I think there are those occasions where you have that and it just, it feels right, you want to do it, weather's there. But like you say, it's not often all those things come in to play. You'll often be feeling like doing it and it'll be peeing it down with rain or you'll be feeling like doing it, or you won't feel like doing it and it'll be glorious weather. 

[00:07:52] Nathan: Yeah. Yeah. So often you think, oh, I feel so like going for a run today. Oh, thunderstorms. Course there are, forecast.[00:08:00] 

[00:08:00] Nathan: Yeah, but it's, it's all right cuz, that's the thing, we need to make the most of the time. And so you can't necessarily wait for the right weather because you may think, well, I'm free this day and the weather isn't so good, but it's still okay to run in, and that would be a good time to go. That's when we need to Just Do It. 

[00:08:16] Steven: Mm-hmm. Just Do It. Sometimes a bad decision is better than no decision. That indecision, which comes with procrastination, that not actually doing anything, well, do something. If you're not gonna do it, do something else. 

[00:08:30] Nathan: Yeah, because of course if we don't do something useful, we'll end up doing something completely pointless and wasting time. You might just, I dunno, scroll through things on social media or something like that, but.

[00:08:42] Steven: I don't know what you're talking about.

[00:08:46] Nathan: But yeah, it's really important that we don't waste time, we don't procrastinate. Because when you actually get on with things, sometimes you find, even if you didn't wanna do it at the beginning, you start to enjoy it, because you're just getting on with it and you're still achieving something. Do you ever [00:09:00] find that?

[00:09:02] Steven: Well, yeah, as I said, I'm the most qualified person when it comes to procrastination. This is something I really struggle with, or no, I really excel at. But yeah, exactly, when I have actually got on with something, actually done it, you do feel a lot better afterwards. There's a sense of satisfaction, as you said, fulfillment. Sounds a bit much, but it's true, isn't it? Hands are made for working, I think is the expression that's used.

[00:09:27] Nathan: Yeah. And, of course, often when you say fulfilment, satisfaction, achievement, the point is that when you're doing something, at least you're getting something done. It may not necessarily be the best use of your time or. But, I definitely feel better, even if I don't really wanna do something.

[00:09:46] Nathan: I mean, a lot of the time, the reason we don't do something, we might think that, well, I think I deserve a break, or we're tempted to think, well, I fancy a bit of time to myself, or I've got other things I could do. But it's important that we prioritize, [00:10:00] and it says in the Bible that God will help us to show, help to show us the right thing to do if we keep in step with the Spirit.

[00:10:06] Nathan: Holy Spirit guides us. Even in everyday situations and menial tasks, He'll help us to show us the right thing to do so that we're making the most of the time. Because at the end of the day, our days are numbered. 

[00:10:19] Steven: I think we should end with like a, you know, resounding, Just Do It. 

[00:10:23] Nathan: Yeah. Okay. That's better than our days, your days. are numbered How, how depressing. Yeah, you're right. We need to be, have a more, I suppose, a more positive mindset, when it comes to a job. I remember, what's his name? Booker T. Washington always talked about getting all the jobs, the most important jobs, perhaps the jobs you have to do, done early in the day so that you can work on new projects for the rest of the day.

[00:10:48] Nathan: And that's a really good philosophy. To get all those things you needed to get done first, and then you can have so much more time free, rather than delaying and delaying and delaying and putting unnecessary stress and strain on [00:11:00] yourself. Yeah, so next time you maybe don't feel like doing something, obviously apply wisdom, but a lot of the time it's really important to Just Do It.

[00:11:09] Nathan: And that is another episode of Endurance, Where Faith and Fitness Meet.