By: Mike Vincent
I recently learnt about a principle that was very interesting to me. It is called ‘Marginal Gains’. It comes from high-performance sports teams and businesses. If there is an incremental improvement of just 1% in any process or area, there would be significant effects when added up across multiple areas of any organisation. As we start the year, if we just make little actual improvements things will improve across everything. What a great thought as the adrenaline from the turn of the New Year is still pumping through our veins!
Unfortunately, our adrenaline gets the better of us and we usually promise more than we deliver. We get ahead of ourselves and plan to gym 5 hours every day, wake -up with the 5 am club, read the whole Bible in 1 month, save more, bake more, travel more, live happier, give our best to our work and our family and our children and friends and and and and…
I know you know the next part well cos I do too. The big promises hit the real world and we can no longer deliver. This often leaves us paralysed, standing like a deer in headlights with our best intentions in hand about to collide with the hard truth of being buried under the weight of what we think we should be doing to be better.
This is not the way to live.
This is not how Jesus has called us to live.
This is where ‘Marginal Gains’ is a good strategy. A little change in the right direction can help to get us to where we want to be. Plus, when we get it right, our success will breed more success, victory leads to more victory. As they say in sports (yay sports!) winning is a habit.
So, this year I have decided that I am going to walk.
I am going to put one foot in front of the other and step by step move from little success to little success, from little victory to little victory. The point is movement and forward movement. Not to get sidetracked or side-swiped or stalled by disappointment or discouragement.
Jesus walked.
I remember a joke about a son wanting to borrow the family car. His father says that he can only use the car if he cuts his hair. “Jesus had long hair”, the son says, his father looking directly at him responding “Yes, but Jesus also walked everywhere”.
Jesus walked.
He certainly walked because cars were not invented yet, but He was intentional with how he moved around. There are plenty of examples of incredible things happening around Jesus while he walked around. He had the time to take it all in as he moved from place to place, appointment to appointment. He healed people, taught them, and noticed those on the fringes. Walking was key to how Jesus lived out His calling.
I am convinced that walking is the pace of the kingdom.
5Blessed are those whose strength is in You,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.[d]
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion. – Psalm 84:5-7 (NIV)
When we take the time to walk with Jesus, we get to enjoy the journey with him as He moves us from glory to glory, strength to strength. Taking in the sights, smells, and sounds of where and how he is guiding and leading us. If He truly is our Rabbi, then we should be taking the time to spend time with Him. Being like Mary and sitting at His feet. There will always be stuff to do and yes, we are called for a purpose to do good works, but we are called to partner with Jesus. To be co-labourers with Him. In our co-lab, we need to be working and walking at His pace and not trying to get Him to move at ours.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” – Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)
Eugene Peterson said, “Discipleship is long obedience in the same direction”.
With Jesus, it is the little things that count. The daily steps on our walk. Choosing Him daily. Choosing to read our Bibles and spend time with Him. Learning to hear His voice as we live open-handed, allowing Him to make adjustments in us. A Christian life is built daily, not in a day.
So many times, we fail to learn lessons because we move on to the next thing too quickly.
In our current age of instant and right now, slow is not valued, and patience is not a virtue. And yet one of the fruits of the Spirit is patience. Thinking about fruit, it takes time, it’s slow, deliberate, and intentional. We cannot live in the fast lane and walk with Jesus.
Practically this means we will need to make adjustments. We will have to be more intentional if we are going to walk, if we are going to live better.
Marginal gains, little improvements across a couple of areas will help us here. What can you improve tomorrow? Maybe you could not watch that extra episode before bed. Could you maybe wake up a little earlier to spend the first part of your day with the Lord? Could you read an extra couple of verses of the Bible? Could you spend just a little more time in prayer today? Could you take one step and raise your hands in worship this Sunday? Could you trust the Lord by being a little more generous this month?
I’m not sure where we will end up by the end of 2024, but I know that I would like to be 366 steps forward from here.
In 2024 I am going to walk.
Will you walk with me?