Practice makes Perfect

Does practice make perfect? My young son Stephen would hear his Dad and I say, 

“Practice makes perfect,” when we tried to encourage him. He began to say in his 

five year old voice, “PRAC-tice makes BET-ter.” At first I tried to correct him. 

But then I thought about the two statements, and I realized he was correct. 

We never arrive at perfection on earth.

But we can get better, and better, and better. Hebrews five talks about how a child

who lives on just the milk of the Word is unskilled. But solid food is for the mature 

who by constant use (practice) have trained themselves to distinguish good and evil.

Apply this to the Christian life. We will hear him more clearly as we continue to practice.

We can't stop when we don't hear or obey Him completely at first.

How did we learn to drive a car? We read the instruction manual and practiced driving. 

Did you think about quitting, and calling a taxi or Uber driver for the rest of your life? 

NO. You wanted to learn to drive a car.

So if we want to be a better Christian we continue to read His manual (the Bible) and 

come into His presence (pray).  Okay, we will not be perfect, but we don’t quit. 

Others may not even notice improvements, but He will notice.

Or as my five year old said, “PRAC-tice makes BET-ter.”

“… desire the sincere Milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.” I Peter 2:2

Grab the Brass Ring

Do you ever feel like the prize in life is just outside your reach?  No matter how hard you strain?

When I was little I loved the merry-go-round. Just the sound of the music in the distance made my small heart pound. I didn’t like going around in circles on wooden horses. Actually it made me sick. But I climbed up excitedly, chose the outside row of horses and hoped.

Young riders on the outside row of the MERRY-GO-ROUND horses were given a challenge. The ride started moving, a metal arm swung out that held many iron rings and a single brass ring, which riders could try to grab as they passed. The brass ring guaranteed a prize. I had short arms and long hope, but I always strained to reach for that brass ring and failed.

I learned something from that. Failure can condition us to quit trying. But while my hope was fading from failure, my arms were growing. Whatever God has told me to do I can do. Sometimes it just takes time for my arm to grow and catch up with His plan for my life and my desires.

I’ve recently grabbed my brass ring. I published my first book. Check your arms, and go for your dream. You’ll find it is no longer out of reach if you won’t quit trying.

 "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward that goal to win the prize for which God has called me..."(Philippians 3:13NIV).