Just Do It!

Via Pixabay (2015), CC0 Public Domain

Just do it!

I’m not a Nike fan. In fact, brand names mean nothing to me. But that company, I admit, did pick a good slogan. This may be because “Just do it!” strikes at the heart of a colossal frustration we humans have with ourselves and others. Oh, if it were only that easy. How many times have we been given the good advice, “Just, do it,” and we never did it, or did it too late or too little. When my eldest kid was about five, I turned to my well-seasoned-mother-friend, out of exasperation: “How many repetitions of ‘Pick your clothes off the ground’ and ‘Put the dishes away’ will I have to say until it becomes just a regular habit for him?” I figured my kid would get it down in another month or so.

“You may never stop repeating yourself,” she answered.

I laughed, thinking she was kidding.

She laughed, out of pity.

I wonder how God and the Virgin Mary feel regarding our reactions to their outcries of “Just do it” (or “Just don’t it”) from heaven. I can only imagine all of heaven screaming to earth, “Just do it!” It took me ten years of saying “Just do it,” to my husband for him to quit guzzling diet Coke, which as I reminded him, kills rats. It’s taken me fifteen years to get him to consider the possibility of closing his drawers, which glide delightfully at the push of a pinky. My eldest son still leaves the dishes in random locations, like on a lamp. Thankfully the fate of nations and the lives of millions are not at stake. My poor husband has simply given up trying to get me to straighten up my desk. “If I do that, I won’t be able to find anything” is my inexcusable excuse.

[tweet "What has heaven been asking you to just do, but you have put on the brakes?"]

What has heaven been asking you to just do, or just not do, but you have put on your brakes or your blinders? We are in Lent, and the repercussions of whether we respond may be bigger than what we think. So let there be no more excuses or delay. JUST DO IT! Just do it today.