Starting well is not everything, but it certainly is something. Ask a sprinter about the importance of a quick take-off from the blocks after the gun sounds. Ask an entrepreneur about the significance of a good first year of business. Ask an author about the value of an impacting first chapter. It is no news that the initial phase of any endeavor often establishes a precedent, be it favorable or unfavorable, which sets the tone for future performance. That is why Plato said, “The beginning is the most important part of the work.”[1]
But that begs the question, “What if your start is not so good?” Is there any hope for the individual in need of a restart? Fortunately, history is filled with the stories of athletes, inventors, business leaders, and even pastors who achieved success after early failures. Moreover, the Scriptures demonstrate repeatedly that the Lord specializes in fresh starts.
I am going to use the next four blogs to consider a roadmap from Deuteronomy 8 given to the children of Israel just before they entered the Promised Land.
DT 8:1 (a) Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers.
This principle comes off sounding like some motivational slogan and, if you are like me, you are sick of cliché one-liners that sound good but lack the substance to affect change in my life. But when God asks for obedience to “every” command, He is not to be understood like some football coach asking for 110 percent. Coaches can only attempt to fashion what is already there, but they can never remake the raw materials. When God says, “Be careful to follow every command,” He must be understood as the Creator speaking over His creation the reality of the potential He has placed there.
This is not the language of self-help gurus, but the Bible truth. When you want to start right, establish a goal that captures the vision of God working in you and refuse to limit yourself by human standards.
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[1] Quote found at “Thinkexist.com” [Organization Website] Available from: http://www.thinkexist.com Accessed: March 5, 2010.
