Being Consistent, Dependability

There is one clock in the house that I use as my main source of knowing what time it is. In the last year, it has not been working well. It works just fine for a few weeks and then, without warning, it stops. Sometimes it will start working again after I reset the time, but other times it won't.

I noticed that it started up again but now the time is wrong. I realized that that is how I am. Instead of consistently moving forward, I tend to go in big spurts and then stop and then go in a big spurt again. I guess that is better than nothing, but I realized when I saw that the clock was working again and the time was wrong, that if I am not consistent, then it is hard for the Lord or others to rely on me. Even though the clock is now working, I can't rely on it for the time. It is useless to me. I guess that's why they say "Slow and steady wins the race." It also reminds me of an article by Elder David A. Bednar.

A spurt may appear to be impressive in the short run, but steadiness over time is far more effective, far less dangerous, and produces far better results. Consecutive days of fasting, ultimately, may not be as spiritually edifying as successive months of appropriate fasting and worship on the designated fast Sunday. An attempt to pray one time for several hours likely will not produce the same spiritual results as meaningful morning and evening prayer offered consistently over several weeks. And a single scripture-reading marathon cannot produce the spiritual growth of steady scripture study across many months.

David A. Bednar, “Steadfast and Immovable, Always Abounding in Good Works,” New Era, Jan 2008, 2–6

Speaking of the tortoise and the hare, this is what Elder Bednar says about that in the same article:

In order to better understand this principle, please consider Aesop’s fable “The Hare and the Tortoise.” After being taunted repeatedly for being slow, the Tortoise challenged the Hare to a race. As the race began, the two started off together. However, the Hare ran rapidly towards the goal and, seeing that he could easily win, lay down and fell asleep a short distance in front of the finish line. The Tortoise maintained a slow but steady and consistent pace toward the finish line. When the Hare awoke from his nap, he started running as fast as he could, only to find that the Tortoise had won the race. The Tortoise is a classic illustration of steadiness and persistence. The Hare, on the other hand, is an example of a “spurter”—one who is given to short bursts of spectacular effort followed by frequent and lengthy periods of rest.

This is such a good article that I will try to include the link to the whole talk:
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=024644f8f206c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=f339f44804d17110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1