Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
”Train yourself to be Godly. Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”
I Timothy 4: 7-8 (NLT)
So, what are you doing that’s important?
For instance, those who are working around the world to stem the loss, report that twenty-six thousand children will die today because of starvation or a preventable disease. Children and families will go to bed hungry in this country at the rate of one in five, and around the world at much more alarming rates?
So, what is it that you are doing that is all that important?
Maybe you’ve wondered at times about what it is about your job that is so important. Or what is it that you can use your job for that may be important?
This past weekend hundreds of millions of dollars were spent to watch and produce football games in colleges around the nation and within the National Football League. The beginnings of the basketball season will do the same in the months to come.
Yet it is conservatively estimated that twenty-seven million adults and thirteen million children will be forced this year into sexual trafficking systems in this country and other countries in the world. So is it really that important that we won or lost the game, rather than whether we played the game with integrity and honor? Or is it more important that we use the opportunity of the game to share what may really be important with all those who watch? Is it really so important that a coach win the conference championship, rather than win the hearts and minds of the players so that they grow and learn and make a difference in the world?
Maybe we should be asking ourselves whether we are using the gifts and opportunity (the platform) God has given us to make a difference in this world. Maybe we should be thinking that if God placed us here—what can we do to make a difference? Maybe we should be giving some thought to what God expects of us.
In the movie “Chariots of Fire,” Eric Liddell had to respond to the critics saying that he wasted too much time on other pursuits—namely Godly pursuits—to ever be considered as a world-class runner.
His critics suggested that he needed to change his approach to training if he ever really wanted to be a runner that competed successfully at high levels, and who won awards, fame, money and other worldly accolades. His response to his critics was succinct and direct when he said—
“I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast.
And when I run I feel His pleasure.”
For Eric Liddell it was all about God. And God’s glory.
In the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, France he was forced to withdraw from the 100 meter competition—his best event—because one of the heats for the event was run on a Sunday. He would not run on Sunday. He knew from where his ability came, and he knew he was running for God’s smile and honor. His heart’s desire was to honor God with the gift God had given him. Liddell went on to win the Bronze Medal in the 200 meters and the Gold Medal in the 400 meters.
After reaching the pinnacle of competitive running in those Olympics, Eric Liddell left for China as a missionary, again simply to honor God. He would continue to do that up to the date of his death in a POW camp.
Eric Liddell realized that the two greatest passions the Lord had placed on his heart—running and reaching the lost—should both be used to his utmost—for God’s glory.
For God’s glory. Not alone for championships and trophies, money or fame or awards.
Maybe that’s what we should be doing with our lives. Maybe that should be the focus of our lives—God’s glory. It’s just a thought.
The reality is that God has given all of us incredible gifts, abilities and talents, deep reservoirs of passion, so many opportunities, and in many cases the resources to help others. What do you suppose He wants us to do with all of that?
Trophies? Championships? Stuff? Money? Fame?
Remember the earlier numbers: 26,000 children dying; 1 in 5 hungry at night; 27 million adults, and 13 million children in unspeakable slavery.
What do you really suppose He wants us to do with our lives?
If it is to make a difference in the lives and world around us, and all for His glory—are we doing that? Is He smiling down on you and on me?
If you didn’t before now, will you do it today and from now on? How will you do it? Maybe it has to start with the focus of our lives.
Doing what is important—changing the world one life at a time.
Just something for us all to think about now and always, and in all ways?
Others may be counting on it.
So, again, what are you doing that’s important?
In His Name—Scott
Copyright 2014. Scott L. Whitaker. All rights reserved.
