At the London 2012 Olympics, six of Team GB\u2019s record gold medal haul were won by less than an inch. In high-level sport, the margins for error, and, therefore, the difference between a gold and a silver, are tiny. This principle can also be seen clearly at work in sports such as international rugby union, and elite-level cycling. The sporting term that is often used here is \u2018marginal gains\u2019. David Brailsford, the mastermind behind Team GB\u2019s cycling success with multiple victories at both the Tour de France and at Olympic level, has a very similar approach to athlete preparation to Sir Clive Woodward, England rugby union\u2019s World Cup-winning coach from 2003: both passionately believed in marginal gains and that success was not about doing one thing 100% better, but 100 things, just 1% better. These \u20181%s\u2019 are the inches in their respective sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This principle today is an appeal to you to find your inches in your life and your walk with God. Where do you need to make marginal gains? Seemingly, the very smallest of things can make all the difference. What are these \u2018inches\u2019, the small things that make such a big difference for you? Do you perhaps need to go to God first with your troubles, before seeking human assistance? For you, is it a case of prioritising quality time with God into your daily routine? Often, all it takes is a 1% change to your thinking. Or maybe you need to make that one-inch adjustment to align yourself with your Father in heaven, rather than being obsessed with being a people-pleaser? And what does that look like for you? Do you need to spend more time with different people at work \u2013 those who nobody else chooses to spend time with, who definitely won\u2019t enhance your career prospects, but whom you know Jesus would gravitate towards? It\u2019s well known that a ship that sets out just one degree off course, is hundreds of miles off by the time it gets to the other side of the ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this area, it\u2019s often the stuff that we don\u2019t do that is every bit as important as the stuff we do. In my experience, men rarely wake up one morning and decide that \u201ctonight, I\u2019m going to get into bed with a woman who isn\u2019t my wife!\u201d But all too often, that is what happens because we don\u2019t take care of our inches. It\u2019s the lingering glances, the unnecessary compliments that are nothing to do with you, and deliberately choosing to remain around the wrong company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I often think about how it was that that lost sheep in Jesus\u2019 parable came to be lost. Just like the man who commits adultery, it\u2019s unlikely that any sheep thinks to himself: \u201cI\u2019m going to set out to get lost today.\u201d But it happens because he sees a tasty tuft of grass, and then another, and another, and before he realises, he raises his head to find he is separated from his 99 friends. The good news is that the shepherd is already looking for him. If you\u2019ve been neglecting your \u2018inches\u2019 recently and are feeling like the lost sheep in Jesus\u2019 parable, then know there is forgiveness and a fresh start available to you today from the good shepherd of your soul. All you need to do is turn back to him. But then, like David Brailsford, or Clive Woodward, become ruthless with those \u2018inches\u2019 in your life that got you into the difficulty in the first place. Deal with the 1%s before a 100% shift is required!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA little sleep, a little slumber,\u00a0a little folding of the hands to rest\u2014and poverty\u00a0will come on you like a thief\u00a0and scarcity like an armed man.\u201d <\/p>Proverbs 6:10-11<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
To know the value of one inch, ask the Olympic silver medallist!<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\nImage Credit: Patricia Serna<\/a><\/p>\n
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