Did you know that the best shortcut you can ever take is to do what God says, in His timing? Shortcuts outside of the will of God invite compromise and create strife and confusion.

We believers need to understand that we are long-distance runners. We are marathoners. We are not on a sprint. We do not need to look for get-rich-quick schemes or shortcuts that open the door to compromise.

There is an old saying that is absolutely true: "If you keep your attention on learning the tricks of the trade, you will never learn the trade." Watch out for fads, even spiritual fads because the letters of the word fad stand for "For A Day."

There is a story told of a beautiful bird that was known for its great singing. It would sit at the top of a tree and make all kinds of lovely melodies. One day a man was walking through the woods. He passed by the tree and heard this beautiful bird singing. The bird saw the man and perceived that he was holding a box.

"What do you have in the box?" he asked the man.

The man replied that he had large, juicy earthworms in the box. "I will sell you a worm for one of your beautiful feathers," he offered.

The bird reached down, pulled out a feather, and gave it in exchange for a worm. Then he took the worm and ate it. He reflected to himself, "Why should I have to work so hard to get a worm when it's so easy to get one this way?"

Well, this affair continued over a period of many days and soon the bird no longer had any beautiful feathers to use to pay for worms. Furthermore, he could no longer fly, nor was he pretty any longer. So he didn't feel like singing beautiful songs any more. He was a very unwise and unhappy bird.

Like this foolish bird, we are always subject to the temptation to look for shortcuts, ways to get ahead and obtain the things we want and the results we desire. But, as this poor creature learned to his regret, there is a price associated with taking shortcuts.

Eventually, we will learn that there is no shortcut to success. One of the hidden truths of life is the fact that the path to the prize is always more valuable than the prize itself.

Shortcuts rob us of those valuable lessons that we need to learn along the way. When presented with an option of a shortcut, a way that is not of God, say no. Be persistent and stick to the path on which the Lord has placed you.

Yes, it's true: we must stay on the path of the circumference of time before we arrive at the center of opportunity.

Source: An Enemy Called Average
by John Mason
Excerpt permission granted by Insight Publishing