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Who couldn’t use more energy in their life? If you are lacking motivation, how can you become motivated to be more motivated? Becoming undepressed often requires a substantial amount of energy–an amount in short supply for the depressed person.
Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing started to become popular in the USA in the 1980s. This method attempts to reduce waste by only adding to inventory as it is needed to meet demand. If a manufacturer creates more units than customers want to buy, they will need someplace to store the excess. JIT can eliminate the need to move surplus inventory at a reduced price.
What does JIT have to do with your motivation and your ability to overcome depression?
Increase Motivation With Just-In-Time Prioritization
What happens if you work extra to save extra but die extra early? You have too much supply. In this case, you waste your life working for something that never happens. That sounds depressing. Jesus calls such a person a fool.
Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.” Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”
Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’
“Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”
Luke 12:13-21 NLT
A rich relationship with God is one based upon faith, not upon the accumulation of material goods (consider also Proverbs 23:4).
Now, you might be thinking, certainly, the Bible doesn’t teach that we should live in poverty and beg for food. And you would be right. The Bible often teaches a principle by providing guard rails to prevent you from drifting too far one way or the other.
Just like a factory produces enough products to sell, so you should work hard to provide for your needs without losing focus on what it means to prosper. Spiritual prosperity should take precedence over material prosperity.
Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity,
but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.A hard worker has plenty of food,
but a person who chases fantasies has no sense.Lazy people want much but get little,
but those who work hard will prosper.It is good for workers to have an appetite;
Proverbs 21:5, 12:11, 13:4, 16:26 NLT
an empty stomach drives them on.
In Proverbs 16:26 you can see the benefit of an empty stomach: motivation. If you want to increase motivation, you need to first be aware of your poverty and have hope that you can satisfy your appetite with fruit from your labor.
Increase Motivation With Just-In-Time Spirituality
If you struggle to read the Bible every day, you might be lacking an appropriate appetite for it. The Bible is practical. God means for us to apply it to our lives immediately, not let it sit around in our heads collecting dust.
If you’re lacking the motivation to read the Bible, try to balance out the supply with more demand. Attempt to fully apply what you’ve already read before you read more. Ask the Spirit to help you apply what you already know.
If life has become too demanding and you’re worn out, try to balance out the demand with more supply. Attempt to rest more as you take in more truth from more Bible reading.
Spending your whole life making money leaves no time to enjoy it. But if you attempt to spend all of your time enjoying life, you won’t have any money to spend.
Spending your whole life reading the Bible leaves no time to apply it. But if you attempt to live without God’s wisdom, you will be bankrupt spiritually.
Work hard, but leave form for God to show up and take care of you … just in time.
More about interpreting the Bible.
Info of Just-In-Time (JIT)
More about working hard.
Image by Andreluiz Cunha from Pixabay
