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I saw an unusual license plate the other day. We were both driving, so I wasn’t able to get a picture of it, but it looked something like this:

I can only assume it’s a reference to Yoda’s conversation with Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back, the second Star Wars movie now known as Episode V. Yoda asks Luke to use the Force to accomplish something bigger than he had done before, and he responded, “All right, I’ll give it a try.” To which Yoda said:

There’s wisdom in the quote and the license plate, provided we are doing something worth doing. I’ve already written on a few things we ought NOT to do, from Psalm 1.1.

But if there’s something we should do, a Holy Moment, for example, then “only do” is a good word. Don’t try, don’t think about doing it, don’t talk about doing it, just do it. I’ve recast the untruth, “It’s the thought that counts,” into, “It’s NOT the thought that counts, it’s the execution!” Thinking I might need to pick my neighbor up at the airport is useless if I don’t ask his wife when he’s coming in and then make the trip. (We had a great visit on the way home!)

In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil. (James 4.17, MSG)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22, NIV)