Davidisms: Be Quick, But Don't Hurry

Legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden is widely regarded as one of the most successful and revered coaches in the history of sports. Twelve consecutive national championships in the 1960’s and 70’s!

One of his players once told me Coach Wooden frequently repeated this phrase to his teams: “Be quick, but don’t hurry.”

Coach Wooden knew that quickness was a very important part of the game. Quicker players win games. They’re able to get to where they need to be faster than others.

But there’s a difference between quickness and hurrying. When you hurry, you often make your biggest mistakes. Rushing to complete a task often leads to reckless missteps.

I think Coach Wooden’s advice is uncannily applicable to Christian life today.

Jesus wants us to realize the signs of the times. To be quick in advancing the Gospel. To work diligently and serve others for Jesus. But we cannot hurry so much that we forget needed details to serve well (Proverbs 19:2).

Astutely oversee what you need to do daily in order to work faithfully for Jesus.

Be quick! Use your time on this earth to accomplish much for Jesus.

But don’t hurry to the point of being careless.