NASHVILLE, TN – Learn from one of the greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln, who noted,” Give me six hours to cut down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.” The President understood the balance between action and preparation.
It was the famed professional basketball star from Leeds, Alabama, Charles Barkley that said candidly, “You just can’t sit on the sidelines of life.” Many would surmise that “sharpening an ax” is akin to just sitting and doing nothing…Lincoln disagrees!!
May this article’s be your call to action, even if that means a season of preparation.
WHY?
Because Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The time is always ripe to do right.” There was a man that feared NO man—but did fear the Lord! Let me ask you point blank, do you fear man…or the God who created the universe? If you are like me, excuses have marred you in the past, but “Hey, let us assume you are fresh out!”
SO, NOW WHAT?
If there is a NOW, then there is still time. “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” Earl Nightingale. No more excuses! You may say, “Well, I have more time in the rear-view mirror than the windshield”—well then…congratulations, you have something to share with those who need to know.
Henry Adams pointed out, “A teacher impacts eternity—he can never tell where his influence stops.” How true! The older and more experienced you are, the more you can pass to the next generation! Please hear me when I say, our next generation desperately needs wisdom from our elders.
What if your next adventure requires you to move or travel or go the distance? Consider this scientific fact, the human circulatory system is more than sixty thousand miles long!! Now if God needs your blood to travel that far, maybe you should be willing to get off your “blessed assurance” and DO SOMETHING!!
You know Carl Sandburg wasn’t all wrong when he quipped, “I’m an idealist…I don’t know where I am going, but I’m on my way.” Scripture challenges us, “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” Get a clue friend, you aren’t supposed to have a complete roadmap when you are a pilgrim away from home, and a sojourner headed home. Father Abraham certainly didn’t.
Aha! Still not convinced—maybe your next phase is to learn to treat people better. I mean really—do you ever give yourself a grade? What’s your report card say? “Your smile is your LOGO…Your personality is your BUSINESS CARD. How you leave others feeling after having an experience with you becomes your TRADEMARK.” Jay Danzie.
Or as Martin Luther King Jr. preached, “to like someone is a sentimental something, but to love someone is a positive decision. It’s hard. It takes work. It’s a measure of who you are as a person—your decision to love in a world full of hate.”
It is never too late for you to alter your course. I love the words of that great theologian and philosopher better known as “ZIGGY, “Just remember…If things look hopeless—maybe you’re facing the wrong direction.”
Maybe try just looking to Jesus!
Patrick Mahomes, winner of Superbowl 57 certainly does, said Patrick—“My Christian faith plays a role in everything I do. I always ask God to lead me in the RIGHT DIRECTION—and let me be who I am for HIS Name!”
Dear Sir/Ma'am—guess what…You can too!
No more excuses!!!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. David L. Thompson holds an undergraduate degree from Belmont University in Psychology and Religion, a graduate degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Education, and a doctorate in Counseling and Pastoral Psychology. He has served as a chairman of the Church Planting Group and Executive Committee Chair at the North American Mission Board for 10 years. He has been a Police Chaplain since 1991 and served as a Corporate Chaplain to the Coca Cola Bottling Company in Nashville, Tennessee where he resides with his wife. He has six children and five grandsons.