David was once a national hero who became king. He conquered nations and was riding a wave of popularity and abundance. His life was going great, but in a single night he blew his life up.
2 Samuel 11 tells the story of David and a hook-up gone bad. The name Bathsheba rings in our ears as a part of the play as David blows up his life. The first step is:
#1: Make the decision to not stay disciplined
In the spring, when the kings normally went out to war, David sent out Joab, his servants, and all the Israelites. They destroyed the Ammonites and attacked the city of Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 11:1 (NCV)
David stays home when other kinds go off to war. He lets others do what he should have done as king. Because he stayed home David will follow his eyes to make a bad decision and then start a roll down a long hill he just might not recover from. It may not have seemed like a big deal, someone else could handle leading the armies. He just decided to listen to his advisers and not do what he knew he probably should. That is how these things happen: one, simple, small seemingly insignificant decision that leads us down a path we did not see taking a dark turn.
So, the question truly becomes how do we keep from making the same kind of choice to let our discipline slide? I think I’ve got some ideas that might help us not lose our discipline. We have to be TOUGH on ourselves to not let our discipline slide.
Think about the importance of your decisions. We need to train our brain to understand the importance of the small things in our lives. If we can make good decisions in the small things then the big decisions become easier. Take some time to think through why your decisions matter.
Overpower the desire to take the easy road. We need to be sure that we don’t allow what might seem easy lead to something extremely hard in our life. The easy road leads to a life that will not have a true impact on our world.
Unplug from those who will encourage you to make the easy decision. David’s men didn’t want David to be at risk. They encouraged him to stay home. Quit listening to those outside voices.
Get busy doing what you know you should do. The best way to make a good decision last is to get busy doing what is right. What are you waiting on? Move in the right direction and you will be able to see it pay off one day.
Honor the power of daily commitment to a good thing. We need to realize that small incremental steps forward are the only way to take any journey in life, no matter how far we want or need to travel. Almost everything worthwhile has always been created with small, daily steps forward.
One final question: What one thing do you need to start, continue or restart today that can change tomorrow?
Barb R. 
Peter B