“Just do it.” Perhaps the Nike slogan has an insight that followers of Christ could use in the task called discipleship and service. There are those who have pointed out that when we overthink a course of action, there is a tendency either to end up doing nothing, or to flub the task.
My brothers and I used to test each other on how steady our hands were. When a brother would request a glass of water, we would fill it up to the brim. Could we pick up the glass and take a drink without spilling the 
contents? When we became overly concerned and self-conscious about spilling the water we usually ended up doing so. But if we simply picked up the glass with a decisive and smooth action, hardly a drop was spilled.
We can get anxious about speaking with someone that we keep on composing and revising a script in our heads. The problem is that, when we finally face the person, the countless versions of the script we prepared have a way of distracting our thoughts and we stumble over our words.
In the matter of Christian discipleship and service, many hesitate to take action because of a sense of uncertainty that they may fail in what they attempt. We convince ourselves that we need to “know more” before we take even a baby step. Usually, we end up not doing anything.
But the Christian life is really about putting into practice the truths we receive from the Lord. Actually, it often is in the doing that we actually learn what we are supposed to learn. And if we do not “do,” chances are we will not learn. This doing is called “obedience.” It is only in obedience that we can truly appreciate the truth of God’s Word.
In the revised edition of Concentric Circles of Concern, Claude V. King writes: “Do the right things and you will experience God working through you in such a way that you will change your mind and attitudes as well. We usually take the opposite approach. We try to change our thinking before reforming our actions. God can work both ways, but sometimes obedience and doing are the best ways to get your thinking in line with God’s ways.” As writer Bill Hull points out: repeated action leads to habits, and habits develop character.
That’s what the spiritual disciplines—such as worship, Bible reading and meditation, service, mission outreach—are all about. We are apprentices in the task of living as Jesus lived. We will fully learn by doing. When we “just do it” even if at first it seems difficult or boring, or we do not understand them fully, or we are not in the mood, God will do his transforming work through our obedient action. So just do it.
—Keith Y. Jainga