How Fast or How Well?

Seth: "I'm the new manager."
Jerry: "But you were a bank executive. This is fast food!"
Seth: "Not fast food, good food quickly."

The American experience is a constant trade-in of quality for speed. This issue was recently driven home during my morning workout. The Nike Training App has been my go-to for a while, and I appreciate each exercise is accompanied by video and audio reminders as you progress.

Today's routine included 30-second increments of the "Crab Reach", a move I've done umpteen times. However, a line in the audio immediately changed my approach to this move as well to the remaining sets in my workout:

"Focus on good form over speed"

In my desire to do something good (exercising my body), I'd been emphasizing speed over quality. I emphasized how fast I could perform the move instead of how well I could perform it. 

I think you may see where I'm going with this.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us-- yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalm 90:17 (NIV)

Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses, the man working to establish an unstable people. Israel was coming out of Egypt and anxious to settle into their permanent homeland, but Moses fought that mindset. Moses prayer wasn't for a quick build, but a quality build. Throughout the Psalm he uses words like everlasting and steadfast. These are words that are willing to take time with the Lord to do things well.

Are you?  

Whether in our devotional time, family time, or work efforts, we must have a desire for God to establish our work as works of quality. Reading the Bible in a year isn't more valuable than studying the Bible for a year. One advances your reading plan, while the other advances your sanctification (becoming more like Jesus).

There's a lot to do everyday: For God, for others, for yourself. Don't focus on how fast you can accomplish these tasks, but on how well you can do them. You just may find the end of each day is more satisfying than it's ever been.