“He makes promises about life, and then he expects us to do our part and not be lazy.”

A thought by Henry Cloud, from his book, The Law of Happiness: How Spiritual Wisdom and Modern Science Can Change Your Life (The Secret Things of God) (p. 40). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Look at this verse from Hebrews 6:12, “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

Henry says, “I love this verse. It gives one more example of the created order, the way God set up the universe. He makes promises about life, and then he expects us to do our part and not be lazy. He promised the children of Israel a ‘promised land,’ but they had to go and possess it. They had to fight a lot of battles to get there. And, little by little, they did. ‘Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.’ God has promised you abundant life, but he has not promised you an abundant life with no effort. Work on your happiness, take responsibility for it, get moving. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is working within you. He is doing his part; now you have to do yours. Don’t be lazy!”

He goes on, “Since I write books, people often come up to me and say, ‘I would love to write a book. I have been wanting to write one for a long time. I already know what I want to write about.’

“‘How long have you been wanting to do this?’ I ask. ‘Oh, for years and years,’ they respond. ‘Well, why don’t you do it?’ I ask. ‘Oh, I just don’t have the time,’ they say. ‘I have a job and cannot just be a writer.’

“‘I have a job too,’ I tell them. ‘I have to write in my spare time. It has only been recently that I have been able to set aside time specifically for writing. But my first twenty books or so, I had to do it when I could find a moment.’

“Most often they just look at me. Then I tell them, ‘You will find time to do what you want to do.’”

Henry then says, “I love the story of John Grisham. He was an attorney and a state legislator but always wanted to be an author. Obviously, he was busy, full-time and more. But with a dream of writing a novel, he got up a little earlier each day and wrote one page. Within a few years, he had A Time to Kill: A Novel. He has sold more than 100 million books since then, but it all started by not being too lazy to write just one page a day. Get moving toward the activities that are going to make you fulfilled and happy. One page or one call at a time.”

Let’s not hold back.  Let’s go do whatever we have dreamed to do.  Okay?  

Yes, yes!