I got you, didn’t I? With the title, I mean. That sort of tantalizing title is getting a lot people these days. It’s epidemic, really. And they are getting on my nerves. I see them by the dozens on Facebook and Twitter every day. We are sharing them to our timelines because we want to share our quick fixes with our friends. That’s nice.

“Ten Ways to Make Your Marriage Sizzle”

“Nine Foods You Should Stop Eating Now”

“Eight Exercises to Flatten Your Belly in Three Days…Guaranteed”

Why are we drawn to click on those stories? We just can’t help it. We have to know. Most authors of such articles rarely have any real data or expertise to make the claims they are making. It’s all a gimmick to draw us in.

We look for quick fixes and simple solutions. But we are grown ups. We should know by now that there are no quick fixes or simple solutions to life’s problems. Most of us don’t want to do the real work involved in making our marriages better, or improving our diets, or our bodies, or whatever. We want something fast, easy, and we want it now.

Any real life change takes time, and effort. Sometimes lots of time and most of the time, lots of effort. Whatever we want to change about ourselves likely didn’t get run off into the ditch overnight, so it likely won’t get repaired overnight either.

John 15:7 says,

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

Just maybe not today.

There are several passages of scripture that talk about perseverance, faithfulness, and pressing on. Looking for quick fixes in the Bible? Not so much. The only real quick fix is salvation in Jesus through the working of the Holy Spirit. Now when he chooses to move to redeem a soul? It can be in the blink of an eye.

But the work of sanctification is usually slow and arduous. We are stubborn sheep. The chipping away of everything that does not look like Jesus in our lives is laborious and continual. It is often painful and difficult. But what is our reward if we persevere? If we stop looking for those quick fixes and submit to real lasting life change?

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4

Steadfastness, staying focused on the goal, leads to lacking in nothing. How many times has jumping to a quick fix landed you empty handed? More often than not, right?

We learned as children from the tale of the Tortoise and the Hare that “Slow and steady wins the race.”

Let’s not be lured by the quick fixes of this world. We know, deep down, they are bunk. Merely distractions from the hard work ahead of us.

Here’s one for you,

“One Promise You Can Count On No Matter What”

“He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6