It is almost impossible to read the fine print on a TV ad. The car commercials are the worst. The font is so small and the words appear only for a few seconds. It may be saying something significant but unless you have super-vision and are a speed-reader it is gone before you know it.

But I did happen to catch some of the finer print on one commercial. It was for a  nicotine patch - you know, the kind that helps a person to stop smoking.  I only caught the first few words, something to the effect that the patch works best when it is combined with will power.

Well, duh!

Any time folk want to make a positive difference in their lives, it usually takes will power. Getting  regular exercise, going on a  diet, quit smoking, quit drinking, may be the most obvious. (At least, so I've heard.) 

I don't quite know why the good, healthy, beneficial  things in  life seem to take more will power than doing the wrong things. But they do.

For example, strengthening our spiritual well-being takes will power.  Will power to pray regularly, to read our Bibles, to get up and head off to church every Sunday, to contribute to our faith communities, to be involved, to give a helping hand, to  act justly, to serve, and so on.

All of us, I expect, have experienced that it doesn't take very long to get out of practice, and  before you know it, we wouldn't know the inside of a church if we were sitting on the latch.. It takes very little will power to do nothing!

Being Christ-like doesn't happen by itself - it takes some effort, some will power. It is not automatic.  It takes some self-motivation, some commitment, some resolve, some dedication, some practice.  We can't just think about it; we must engage in the process.

Perhaps, the human proclivity to take the easy road was why Paul emphasised how important doing God's will was.  "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will," (Romans 12:2). If just left to our own devices, God's work might never get done. We all need a kick in the pants, now and then.

Jesus didn't just talk a good game; he lived it out, It is obvious there were times when it tired him out, when he needed some R&R, when dealing with the people's needs seemed never-ending, but he had the will power to continue. His words  in the Garden of Gethsemane  inspired him, even to the Cross, "Not my will, but your will be done."

"For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose,"(Philippians 2:13).

Dale