JUST DO IT

THIS WELL WORN NIKE AD SLOGAN IS A CALL TO ACTION TAKEN FROM A MOST UNUSUAL SOURCE : The last words of the condemed killer Gary Gilmore Jan 17 1977 to the firing squad were "Let's do this " made famous in the media at that time , the phrase was adapted to "Just Do It " by an advertising agency for Nike who would rather keep it s origins obscure You may be sure.

The ad campaign however was a runaway success and created an unintended although well received coultural revolution.
The Company was inundated with mail about how the slogan became the turning point for many people ,overwhelmingly women, the target audience since reebok had a dominate position in the mens running shoe market at that time, to finally take action and change something in their lives.

For some it was a job or career change others a relationship or destructive habit or dependency and of course the fitness challenge ,weight loss etc.

This call to action resonates with us all because of the natural inertia to implementing positive change can often impede the best of intentions...just in time for NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS.

We can succeed however with discipline and determination and the positive role models and encouragers we surround ourselves with (or become) , and a dependency on the power of God.

In life ,fitness, spiritual growth and personal development we may measure this process in a variety of ways to gauge advancements (and declines) and to continue to improve and excell.
I think of the business phrase "what does not get measured ,does not get done"

The summary of the book of James is spiritual maturity and like a fitness gym the process is compared to a view of ones self in the mirror, notice how Mirrors are everywhere in gyms to let you see your form and technique. Mirrors are everywhere in the Bible also as we see ourself in light of the truth of scripture and the lives and struggles of the people described therein.

A quick way to tell how this maturity process is going is to look at the impact of obstacles, setbacks and distractions to our progress. (How many times did I blow it today? )

More goals are reached by creating capacity and reducing clutter than by adding yet one more thing to do to an already overcrowded agenda....simplify, create margin." Lead us not into temptation"

This is sometimes easier said than done in reality but we must be vigiliant to protect the commitment and priority of goals.

I see this in my own life and in Psalm 119:37 "Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things"

I like the "Message version"
vs 17 "Be generous with me and I will live a full life; not for a minute will I take my eyes off your road. Open my eyes so I can see. vs 35 " God give me lessons for living so I can stay the course. Give me insight so I can do what you tell me -let my whole lifelong be one obedient response. give me a bent for your words of wisdom , and not for piling up loot.
Divert my eyes from toys and trinkets, invigorate me on the pilgrim way"

Notice the terms road and pilgrim way...Life is A Highway..Rascal Flatts.

Toys and trinkets litter the highway of the immature as they (we all) seek satisfaction in aquisitions and achievements ..I Can't Get No Satisfaction..Rolling Stones..I try, and I try..

We all seek to define ourselves by what is most important to us and the price we will pay (have paid ) ..Think song/video Lyrics "Hurt" by Johnny Cash "What have I become? ..You can have it all my empire of dirt ,if I could start again..I would make you Hurt" A reflective look at the futility of things compared to relationships and the exacting toll on ones life(and others) and true happiness.
Still yet the offer still must be considered continually in a cost benefit analysis..Just look at the use of time, our most irreplacable asset . We are enticed on every internet home page to click to view more or buy more or..e-mail offers ,advertisments and solicitations for some good and some worthless things.
The book The Pilgims Progress by John Bunyan circa 1667 has a chapter titled Vanity Fair..this where we get our modern day magazine name.Its origins are none other than the temptations of Christ.
In the book the central Character named Christian and his companion named Fruitful are ontheir pilgram journey though this mortal life and the physical world we live in to the Celestial City (heaven),with the unseen realm of affliction and advesaries he is (and we are) experiencing .

In this Hububub In The Fair" there are all such merchandise sold as houses, lands, trades ,places ,honors, preferments ,titles ,countries, kingdoms, lust, pleasures; and delights of all sorts, as harlots , wives, husbands, children, masters, servants, lives, blood , bodies, souls, silver , gold, pearls, precious stones, and what not."
The way to the Celestial City lies just through this town and one must go through or go out of this world. ..which is to say keep oneself from being polluted by the world while we must live in it as a light or salt of influence but not be distracted by the temporary pleasures and ultimately unsatisfing desires of the flesh. "Their destiny is destruction there God is their stomachs"( This can also be warning to those who would use outward or physical austerity and fasting as a means to rightousness in context ).

The larger truth as it relates to spiritual maturity is to think long term "For our citizenship is in heaven " Philippians 3:20
As Christian and Fruitful pass through they are noticed for their dress , speech, righteousness, they speak the language of heaven and they traffic in the truth (Buy the truth and do not sell it. Proverbs 23:23...compromise) In the Vanity Fair there is no such thing as tolerance, a sinister spirit lurks. There is a law, and the unspoken law is you must become like us-you either buy or burn.
It is the verdict of the world that condemned the Son of God. Can we come to grips with this? Friendship with the world and friendship with God are two incompatible entities.
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Friend of God or Friend of the world ? James 4.4 ,
1John 2 15-17
"If anyone loves the world , the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 The world is passing away and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

Read James test of obedience chapter 1 , test of religion..
test of good works chapter 2 test of the tongue chapter 3...rebuke of worldliness chapter 4 ..
warnings to the rich in chapter 5 and an exhortation to take the long view of the coming of the lord and shape up .

Watch out for each other as we sojourn, 1 James 5:19 "Brethren , if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his ways (wrong road ..way) will save a soul from death and cover a mutitude of sins.

Just do it !