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“So many fail because they don’t get started – they don’t go. They don’t overcome inertia. They don’t begin.” – Ben Stein
Have you heard? Sitting is the new smoking. The Mayo Clinic cites a number of health concerns that derive from sitting too much. We use less energy than when we stand or move which causes: obesity, increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess fat around the waist, and lower metabolism. Lack of movement seems to increase the possibility of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer. The Clinic surveyed more than 1 million people and found that 60-75 minutes of physical activity per day countered the effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Respondents saw increased muscle tone, movement, and mental well-being, especially with age. They recommended taking a break from sitting every 30 minutes, and standing or even walking on a treadmill while talking on the phone or working at your desk. Moving increases your quality of life. The Apostle Paul told his protege Timothy, “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” (1 Timothy 4:8)
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INERTIA is the tendency to do nothing or remain unchanged. In physics, it is a property of matter which continues in its existing state unless that state is changed by an external force. As is true for our physical bodies, spiritual inactivity is deadly. James said, “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.”” (James 2:17-18, NIV) Too many are in a condition of spiritual atrophy. They live degenerated lives that are in a decline of effectiveness or vigor due to under-use or neglect. They say they dream of movement, but love comfort and routine. They desire to get ahead in their thoughts…they say they want fulfill God’s call and do new things…but their wishing, wanting, and even hating on others, doesn’t move them to real action. Writer Elbert Hubbard wrote, “The reason men oppose progress is not that they hate progress, but that they love inertia.”
Sometimes it takes an outside force of Divine intervention to make us shift and make forward progress. Often what initiates transformation is a crisis or adversity that God allows – something that shakes us up and calls us to change our ways. The law of inertia says we’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing (nothing), and things will be as they have been (comfortable and complacent) until an external force changes our focus, speed, or direction. The more immovable we are, the more force it will take for us to budge, grow and develop. Have you been cuddling up with inertia lately? It’s a life-killer.
