To illustrate the paralysis of indecision, international speaker Michael Ramsden tells the story of three turtles who went off to a picnic. One turtle packed sandwiches, another provided the drinks, and the third one simply came along for company. As the turtles headed off into the woods, about halfway to their destination it started to rain so they took shelter under a large rock and began talking amongst themselves.

The first two turtles turned to the third and said, "Look, we made the sandwiches, we made the drinks, you brought nothing, so you should be the one to go home and get the umbrella's. Get some umbrella's, come back here, we'll go on into the woods and we'll have our picnic."

The third turtle said, "You must be joking. As soon as I'm around the corner you're going to eat the food, you're going to drink the drinks, and when I come back with the umbrella's there will be nothing left."

The first two turtles said, "We will do no such thing."

The third turtle said, "You absolutely will. There's no way I'm doing that." Eventually the first two turtles swear on their shells that they will not eat the sandwiches or drink the drinks until the third turtle comes back with the umbrellas.

So the third turtle leaves. Minutes go by. Minutes become hours, hours become days. On the tenth day the first turtle says to the second turtle, "Okay how about it, why don't we just eat the sandwiches and drink the drink?" As soon as the first turtle says this a voice from behind a rock says, "If you do I won't get the umbrellas!"

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Leaders; Leadership; Decisions—Leaders who are people who need to make decisions. (2) Procrastination; Salvation—Perhaps you are putting off making an important decision, like accepting Christ, turning from sin, joining the church, and so forth.