Most, if not all of us, are familiar with the fable The Tortoise and the Hare. The hare (a fast animal that resembles a rabbit) thought he could beat the tortoise with little effort. He would run for a while and make much progress, but then he would rest a while. He thought he had plenty of time. In his thinking, there was no reason to stay focused on the task at hand. He decided to take a nap.

The tortoise, however, just kept plodding along. He remained steady and persistent at the task of winning the race and that is exactly what he did. When the hare awoke from his nap, the tortoise was walking across the finish line. The tortoise, a much slower reptile, beat the hare by steady plodding.

Steady plodding is a strategy that has been tried and proven over again but it is amazing how few people put this strategy into practice. Steady plodding works when …

• Trying to pay off credit card debt,
• Saving for a big future purchase, or
• Paying ahead on a mortgage.

These are just a few examples where steady plodding works. Anyone would like a windfall gain or be able to make a big dent in a debt situation. But, most of us are not so fortunate as to be able to make such monumental strides. Once again, we need to remember, steady plodding is the right strategy. When we practice steady (persistent) plodding, we will be victorious; just like the hare. As we close this principle, consider these two renderings of Proverbs 21:5.

“The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.” (NKJV)

“Steady plodding brings prosperity; hasty speculation brings poverty.” (TLB)