This is just one of the pictures that comes up when you type in the word discipline.  There are a lot of us that are either “Next,” “Tomorrow,” or “Later” people.  I know that I am a “later” person.  Doesn’t matter what it is I almost always want to do it later.

The question in my life has become, “How can I take what I want to do ‘later’ and do it ‘now?’” Even this blog is something that I have put a ‘later’ stamp on.  I tell myself, “When I move and get more time I will blog more.  When I get back into full-time ministry I can devote more time to my podcast.”  They have been put on the ‘later’ list.

I need to get things off the ‘later’ list and onto the ‘now’ list.  Why?  Because if I keep putting things off to ‘later’ I will run out of ‘now time.’ I mean I am not getting any younger.   Plus, when I think about it I don’t have any other time to do anything than now.  I can’t do things that I need to do right now yesterday and I can really do them ‘tomorrow’ either.  I only time I have is ‘now.’  I can put something off until ‘tomorrow’ but when ‘tomorrow’ becomes the present it magically becomes ‘the now.’

What is the “magic bullet’ that will help me get things done ‘now’ instead of ‘later?”  It is……oh wait….there is no ‘magic bullet’ to getting things done.  The only way to get better at doing what needs to be done is discipline.

Disciplines, the experts say, are basically habits that are done over time.  Anyway, that’s what I get of their works.  The idea is that if I want to become a disciplined person I have to establish habits and those habits done over time becomes a new discipline. So what happens if you don’t have the habits to create the discipline that you want in your life?

This is the hard one.  You have to envision what that new discipline looks like when fully matured and then determine what habits you would need to attain that new discipline.  You have to start “new habits.”  Here’s the hard part…old habits are strong and will beat up on your new habits.  Anyway, they do in my life.  The old habit says, “Hey buddy!  I was here first.  Get lost.”

For example, I have a spot, my spot, that I sit every night that I am home.  I sit there and watch YouTube videos.  I sit there and look at things on Facebook.  I sit there to check my email.  It is like that spot has glue that makes it really difficult for me to get up and go do something…anything.

I want to work on my new podcast, All Things Church.  All I would have to do is go downstairs to where my recording equipment is and record something.  Do I?  Nope!  Why?  Because the old habit of sitting in my spot is stronger than the new habit of working on my podcast and I want to do that.  Can you imagine what it is like for me to start something that I don’t want to do?  Laundry? No chance, well at least until I am out of clothes to wear.  Dishes?  Nope! Not until there are no more forks, spoons or knives.

Here is the problem for me anyway.  I want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and that takes discipline.  Unforetunlly, I have no discipline.  I know I need to form some new habits. Again not easy… no discipline.

Lord help me to be disciplined enough to somehow, some way, be able to blog what I have read about forming new habits.