As people of flesh, we all have some negative tendencies, and we must overcome them as we live life. One of them is procrastination, putting off doing what needs to be done even though we know that doing so will result in negative consequences. I have often asked myself, “Why do I do that??” The answer is, “That is just the way we are.” But we can change and grow and, as Peter says, “put on the divine nature.”

I can sit in my recliner and think, “I need to get up and run on my treadmill for thirty minutes; I will do that in five minutes.” But I often will continue to sit there until it is too late to do it. It doesn’t seem that big a deal at the moment, but later, I will kick myself for being such a wimp.

I regularly will take on a character trait as a personal goal to improve, and decisiveness is my goal for the next several months. I have come up with some mottos that I will say to myself to push myself in this area. One of them is, “Don’t just keep looking through the scope, pull the trigger, shoot something!” I have memorized a number of Bible verses on this problem; one of them is in John 4, where Jesus says, “You say there are yet four months and then comes the harvest, but I say to you, “lift up your eyes and look, the fields are ready for harvest now!” Another one of my commands to myself is, “Do it now, Duke, not in five minutes, do it now!”

I did research on a bunch of book reviews and recommendations from other pastors on the best book on this subject, and I purchased and am not reading the book, “The Now Habit,”

I enjoy challenges and competition, and I fully expect that I am going to win this contest with my flesh, the world, and the devil.