When All Is Said And Done
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series I, Cycle C
Life has a way of presenting us with defining moments. I remember facing a defining moment in my ministry. I went to see a man in the hospital who was dying. He was not active in the church I pastored, but I knew who he was. When I entered his hospital room, his whole family was standing in a semi-circle around his bed. They greeted me, and then the man told his family that he wanted a moment alone with me. So they left us alone.
As soon as his family had left, he began to cry. I sat by his bed and began to stroke his hand while he expressed his grief. After a few minutes, I asked him, "Are you afraid?" He said, "No. I feel sure that death will not separate me from Christ." Then I said, "Then you must be sad about leaving your family." He replied, "Yeah, but that's not what is bothering me." "Then what exactly is it?" I asked. He turned his head away from me, lifted his eyes to hold back the tears, and said four words that still haunt me to this day: "I wasted my life." Then he began to tell me how he did not do the things he should have done -- how he squandered his gifts on possessions, drugs, and alcohol -- how he could have done so much more with the life God had given him -- how he did not follow the path God had for him. I told him that the grace of God was big enough to forgive a wasted life. Yet as I left the hospital room, I thought how tragic it would be to come to the end of your life and realize you have wasted it.
Would you do an exercise for me? Don't worry, it is a mental exercise and won't tax you physically. However, the exercise is designed to give your mind and soul a workout! Imagine for a moment that your life is over, and you are led into a small room. In this room there are two chairs; one for you and one for God (guess who gets the larger chair?). In front of these two chairs are a television and a DVD player. Imagine God coming into the room with a DVD labeled with your name and the title, "What Might Have Been." Imagine sitting in that room with God and watching the DVD share all that God might have done with your life if you had let him. Imagine seeing what God might have done with your financial resources if you had generously trusted him. Imagine seeing what God might have done with your talents and gifts if you had stepped out in faith and used them. Imagine seeing what God might have done with your relationships if you had given him room to work. Imagine seeing what God might have done with you if you had confronted sin and yielded to God's empowering grace.1
Now, I don't know if God will make us watch a video titled "What Might Have Been." I hope not. It would be rather cruel. And I am not asking you to do this exercise so you will wallow in self-defeat. But I have asked you to do this because we have only one chance to fulfill God's dream for us. So let me get straight to the point: What have you done with your life up to this point? Do you feel like you have not taken advantage of the life God has given you? Well, take heart, because as long as you have breath, it is not too late. At this very moment, you can make things better!
To help motivate us to take advantage of God's gifts to us, I would like to lift up a very familiar, yet inspiring biblical character. In fact, he is such a household name that we sometimes gloss over his remarkable accomplishments. His name is Saul, but the Lord called him Paul. If there ever was a person who took advantage of the gifts, talents, and resources God has given, it was Paul.
Paul Decided
Our scripture lesson is a vivid example of Paul taking advantage of his gifts and deciding to live out God's purpose and plan for him. After a very difficult and disappointing beginning to what was supposed to be a "Great Missionary Journey," Paul was called in a vision to go to Macedonia and share the Good News. At this point in the journey, Paul had every alibi and excuse in the world not to obey God: it's too dangerous; it's too long of a trip; I don't want to fail again; I am not competent enough to handle it. But when faced with the decision of destiny or defeat, Paul chose his destiny.
We all face the same decision. All human beings will choose between destiny or defeat. Between today and your last day, you will make critical decisions based upon the kind of person you want to be and the life you want to live. The only question is: Will your decisions be worthy of the gifts God has given to you? Hopefully, whatever decisions you make, they will not be as shameful as these decisions:
An Illinois man pretending to have a gun kidnapped a motorist and forced him to drive to two different ATM's. The kidnapper then proceeded to withdraw money from his own bank accounts.
A man walked into a Topeka, Kansas, Kwik Stop and asked for all the money in the cash drawer. Apparently, the take was too small, so he tied up the store clerk and worked the counter himself for 3 hours until the police showed up and grabbed him.
Police in LA had good luck with a suspect who just could not control himself during a lineup. When detectives asked each man in the lineup to repeat the words,"Give me all your money or I'll shoot," the man shouted, "That's not what I said!"2
Bad decisions!
We are the persons we are today because of the decisions we have made. However, what is equally true is that all of us are the persons we are today because of the decisions we have not made. Not to decide is to decide. If we don't decide, someone or something will decide for us. When we fail to decide, we miss opportunities and are faced with less options. The longer we wait to make a decision, the easier it becomes for bad habits to creep in and cause us to make the wrong decision. Helen Keller once said, "Science may have found a cure for most evils, but it has found no remedy for the worst evil of all -- the apathy of human beings."3
However, many of us don't see our apathy; we just see our excuses. We say, "I would develop my gifts more thoroughly, but my friends and family don't support me. I would pursue a healthier job but I need the money and security of my present one. I would grow in my relationship with my spouse, but my spouse is not interested. I would devote myself more fully to spiritual growth, but I can't find the time. I would realize more of my potential, but no one will help me."
Then some of us are masters at the "When/then game"4: When I find the time, then I will figure out what I want to do with my life. When I feel confidant, then I'll try using my gifts. When my boss is more supportive, then I'll perform better. When my spouse is more affirming, then I'll work on our marriage. But the truth is, "If you are not actively pursuing the person you want to be, then you are pursuing the person you don't want to be."5 Not to decide is to decide!
So are you ready to make a decision about the kind of life you want to live? Let me ask you some questions which may help: What do you enjoy doing more than anything in this world? What keeps you up at night (besides indigestion)? A conviction, a worthy wish, or driving dream? What is your greatest passion, and does it intersect at the Church's greatest need? And my final encouragement is found in the words of Howard Thurman: "Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."6
Paul Was Determined
We cannot overstate Paul's determination. For it was not always easy for Paul to live up to his name and live out God's plan for him. When Paul, Silas, and Timothy had reached Troas, Paul's "Great Missionary Journey" had been anything but great. Paul and Barnabas got into a squabble and parted ways. Paul's ambitious plan to go to Bithynia was thwarted by Jesus. And, worst of all, they had not converted a soul! It would have been enough to make any one of us give up and go home. But Paul was determined to finish what God started in him and "pressed on." As he set sail to Macedonia, little did Paul know that he was headed for the greatest missionary adventure of his life -- one that began with the founding of his most beloved church: the church in Philippi.
As you reflect on Paul's determined spirit, perhaps you say with admiration, "I would love to have that kind of determination, but whenever I get ambitious, it does not take long for laziness and discouragement to squelch my drive." Well, it may comfort you to know that Paul was no Superman. He was human and had the same weaknesses as the rest of us. I am certain there were days when Paul felt like quitting. Yet Paul knew that God had given him all the resources he needed to succeed.
You are no different from Paul. God has given you all the resources you need: a mind, a dream, and, most of all, the Holy Spirit. You have the resources and ability to be as determined as Paul. Perhaps you just need to remember the determination you had before you knew what it meant to give up. For instance, when you were a baby, you did not know what it meant to quit. When you were one year old and trying to walk, you did not say, "Well, that was stupid of me! I am such an idiot! I guess I was not destined to be a walker. It was so embarrassing to fall in front of those people. I don't want that to happen again. I am just going to crawl the rest of my life instead of risking the humiliation of falling."7 We never did that! But as we grew older and began to hear, process, and speak language, those dirty, four-letter words started to creep into our vocabulary. Dare I print them in this book of sermons? Words like "can't," "quit," "won't," and "don't."
As a teenager, I had a tennis coach who had played basketball for the L.A. Lakers. He was a tremendous athlete. He taught me many lessons about tennis, the most important of which was determination. For instance, he would make me do a dreaded exercise which involved bending my knees and getting lower and lower to the ground. I loathed this exercise and whenever he asked me to do it I would protest, "I can't! I can't!" One day I said that word one time too many. He jumped over the net, ran up to me, put his face in mine, and said, "Son, get that word out of your vocabulary because can't never could!" He was right. We are our own worst enemies. We tell ourselves we "can't" and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Paul must have known the defeating power of the word "can't." Paul must have known that even the Holy Spirit cannot do much with a person who is convinced that he/she can't. Why else would he have proclaimed to the Philippian church, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (3:14). Paul was confident that no matter what life threw at him, the power of Christ would be there to shield him. You see, God never quits on us. Why should we quit on God? Yet whenever we do quit, God says to us, "Get up! Get up! Get ready to go again. For you don't want to miss the best part of your life!"
Whenever Paul felt like quitting, he must have sensed this kind of encouragement from God. What else would have enabled him to write and, most of all, live out these words:
... As servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet we are well known; as dying, and see -- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
-- 2 Corinthians 6:4-10
Paul Deflected
As you can readily see from Paul's testimony to the Corinthians, Paul had enemies who did everything they could to intimidate him. His critics within the Church insulted him. The Jewish leaders slandered him. The government authorities threatened and physically tortured him. But Paul was not buying. He deflected all such intimidations like waving gnats from his face and said with righteous arrogance, "Should a person like me flee? If God be for me, who can be against me?"
There will always be critics when you are attempting something noble, taking the high road, or living out what you understand to be God's purpose for you. There will always be jealous or insecure people desiring to foil your plans. There will always be backbiters who will try to intimidate you. There will always be critics affirming your failures. Yet when you do fail, and you are down in the dirt of self-pity, and your critics continue to shake their fingers at you saying, "I told you so," just remember:
The victim says, "I can't";
the victor says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
The victim says, "It's not my fault!"
the victor says, "I am responsible for my actions."
The victim says, "We never did it that way before";
the victor says, "Nothing venture, nothing gained."
The victim lives in fear;
the victor walks by faith.
The victim sees problems;
the victor sees opportunities.
The victim strikes back;
the victor turns the other cheek.
The victim harbors resentment;
the victor forgives even as God has forgiven him.
The victim gives up;
the victor presses on.
The victim explains why it can't be done;
the victor believes it can be done.
The victim offers excuses;
the victor sets an example.
The victim is reactive;
the victor is proactive.
The victim says, "With man this is impossible";
the victor says, "With God all things are possible."
The victim says, "The odds are against us";
the victor says, "If God be for us, who can be against us?"8
Sir Edmund Hillary made several unsuccessful attempts at scaling Mount Everest. After those failures, he finally succeeded. But he learned from his failures. For instance, one time he stood at the mountain's base and shook his fist towards it and said, "I'll beat you yet because you are as big as you are going to get -- but I'm still growing." Every time Hillary climbed and failed, something inside of him grew and grew and grew. Then there came that special day when all of his growth made a difference, and he did not fail.9
Perhaps you are on the cusp of a great decision for your life. Perhaps you are ready to move beyond your mediocrity. Maybe you are deciding to be the person that God has called you to be. Maybe you are willing to take advantage of all those situations of your life that have caused you to grow. Maybe you are just about ready, and all you need is one slight push. I believe I have just the right motivator:
I read of a reverend who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning ... to the end.
He noted that first came the date of her birth and spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.
For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth,
And now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not how much we own, the cars, the house, the cash.
What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.
So think about this long and hard. Are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left. You could be at dash mid-range.
If we could just slow down enough to consider what's true and real
And always try to understand the way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger and show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives like we've never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile,
Remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.
So when your eulogy is being read with your life's actions to rehash,
Would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?10
When all is said and done in your life, will there be more said than done, or done than said? You decide! The clock is ticking, and God's adventure for your dash is waiting.
____________
1. John Ortberg, If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2001), pp. 47-48.
2. Taken from an e-mail titled "Today's Humor."
3. Quoted in David C. Cooper, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (Atlanta: Discover Life Ministries, 2000), pp. 29-30. Used by permission.
4. Phrase coined by Susan Jeffers.
5. Attributed to Theodore Roosevelt.
6. Quoted in "The Candler Connection."
7. Ortberg, p. 136.
8. Cooper, pp. 47-48. Used by permission.
9. Ortberg, p. 24.
10. "The Dash," by Linda Ellis, copyright 1996 by Linda Ellis, www.lindaslyrics.com. Used by permission.
As soon as his family had left, he began to cry. I sat by his bed and began to stroke his hand while he expressed his grief. After a few minutes, I asked him, "Are you afraid?" He said, "No. I feel sure that death will not separate me from Christ." Then I said, "Then you must be sad about leaving your family." He replied, "Yeah, but that's not what is bothering me." "Then what exactly is it?" I asked. He turned his head away from me, lifted his eyes to hold back the tears, and said four words that still haunt me to this day: "I wasted my life." Then he began to tell me how he did not do the things he should have done -- how he squandered his gifts on possessions, drugs, and alcohol -- how he could have done so much more with the life God had given him -- how he did not follow the path God had for him. I told him that the grace of God was big enough to forgive a wasted life. Yet as I left the hospital room, I thought how tragic it would be to come to the end of your life and realize you have wasted it.
Would you do an exercise for me? Don't worry, it is a mental exercise and won't tax you physically. However, the exercise is designed to give your mind and soul a workout! Imagine for a moment that your life is over, and you are led into a small room. In this room there are two chairs; one for you and one for God (guess who gets the larger chair?). In front of these two chairs are a television and a DVD player. Imagine God coming into the room with a DVD labeled with your name and the title, "What Might Have Been." Imagine sitting in that room with God and watching the DVD share all that God might have done with your life if you had let him. Imagine seeing what God might have done with your financial resources if you had generously trusted him. Imagine seeing what God might have done with your talents and gifts if you had stepped out in faith and used them. Imagine seeing what God might have done with your relationships if you had given him room to work. Imagine seeing what God might have done with you if you had confronted sin and yielded to God's empowering grace.1
Now, I don't know if God will make us watch a video titled "What Might Have Been." I hope not. It would be rather cruel. And I am not asking you to do this exercise so you will wallow in self-defeat. But I have asked you to do this because we have only one chance to fulfill God's dream for us. So let me get straight to the point: What have you done with your life up to this point? Do you feel like you have not taken advantage of the life God has given you? Well, take heart, because as long as you have breath, it is not too late. At this very moment, you can make things better!
To help motivate us to take advantage of God's gifts to us, I would like to lift up a very familiar, yet inspiring biblical character. In fact, he is such a household name that we sometimes gloss over his remarkable accomplishments. His name is Saul, but the Lord called him Paul. If there ever was a person who took advantage of the gifts, talents, and resources God has given, it was Paul.
Paul Decided
Our scripture lesson is a vivid example of Paul taking advantage of his gifts and deciding to live out God's purpose and plan for him. After a very difficult and disappointing beginning to what was supposed to be a "Great Missionary Journey," Paul was called in a vision to go to Macedonia and share the Good News. At this point in the journey, Paul had every alibi and excuse in the world not to obey God: it's too dangerous; it's too long of a trip; I don't want to fail again; I am not competent enough to handle it. But when faced with the decision of destiny or defeat, Paul chose his destiny.
We all face the same decision. All human beings will choose between destiny or defeat. Between today and your last day, you will make critical decisions based upon the kind of person you want to be and the life you want to live. The only question is: Will your decisions be worthy of the gifts God has given to you? Hopefully, whatever decisions you make, they will not be as shameful as these decisions:
An Illinois man pretending to have a gun kidnapped a motorist and forced him to drive to two different ATM's. The kidnapper then proceeded to withdraw money from his own bank accounts.
A man walked into a Topeka, Kansas, Kwik Stop and asked for all the money in the cash drawer. Apparently, the take was too small, so he tied up the store clerk and worked the counter himself for 3 hours until the police showed up and grabbed him.
Police in LA had good luck with a suspect who just could not control himself during a lineup. When detectives asked each man in the lineup to repeat the words,"Give me all your money or I'll shoot," the man shouted, "That's not what I said!"2
Bad decisions!
We are the persons we are today because of the decisions we have made. However, what is equally true is that all of us are the persons we are today because of the decisions we have not made. Not to decide is to decide. If we don't decide, someone or something will decide for us. When we fail to decide, we miss opportunities and are faced with less options. The longer we wait to make a decision, the easier it becomes for bad habits to creep in and cause us to make the wrong decision. Helen Keller once said, "Science may have found a cure for most evils, but it has found no remedy for the worst evil of all -- the apathy of human beings."3
However, many of us don't see our apathy; we just see our excuses. We say, "I would develop my gifts more thoroughly, but my friends and family don't support me. I would pursue a healthier job but I need the money and security of my present one. I would grow in my relationship with my spouse, but my spouse is not interested. I would devote myself more fully to spiritual growth, but I can't find the time. I would realize more of my potential, but no one will help me."
Then some of us are masters at the "When/then game"4: When I find the time, then I will figure out what I want to do with my life. When I feel confidant, then I'll try using my gifts. When my boss is more supportive, then I'll perform better. When my spouse is more affirming, then I'll work on our marriage. But the truth is, "If you are not actively pursuing the person you want to be, then you are pursuing the person you don't want to be."5 Not to decide is to decide!
So are you ready to make a decision about the kind of life you want to live? Let me ask you some questions which may help: What do you enjoy doing more than anything in this world? What keeps you up at night (besides indigestion)? A conviction, a worthy wish, or driving dream? What is your greatest passion, and does it intersect at the Church's greatest need? And my final encouragement is found in the words of Howard Thurman: "Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."6
Paul Was Determined
We cannot overstate Paul's determination. For it was not always easy for Paul to live up to his name and live out God's plan for him. When Paul, Silas, and Timothy had reached Troas, Paul's "Great Missionary Journey" had been anything but great. Paul and Barnabas got into a squabble and parted ways. Paul's ambitious plan to go to Bithynia was thwarted by Jesus. And, worst of all, they had not converted a soul! It would have been enough to make any one of us give up and go home. But Paul was determined to finish what God started in him and "pressed on." As he set sail to Macedonia, little did Paul know that he was headed for the greatest missionary adventure of his life -- one that began with the founding of his most beloved church: the church in Philippi.
As you reflect on Paul's determined spirit, perhaps you say with admiration, "I would love to have that kind of determination, but whenever I get ambitious, it does not take long for laziness and discouragement to squelch my drive." Well, it may comfort you to know that Paul was no Superman. He was human and had the same weaknesses as the rest of us. I am certain there were days when Paul felt like quitting. Yet Paul knew that God had given him all the resources he needed to succeed.
You are no different from Paul. God has given you all the resources you need: a mind, a dream, and, most of all, the Holy Spirit. You have the resources and ability to be as determined as Paul. Perhaps you just need to remember the determination you had before you knew what it meant to give up. For instance, when you were a baby, you did not know what it meant to quit. When you were one year old and trying to walk, you did not say, "Well, that was stupid of me! I am such an idiot! I guess I was not destined to be a walker. It was so embarrassing to fall in front of those people. I don't want that to happen again. I am just going to crawl the rest of my life instead of risking the humiliation of falling."7 We never did that! But as we grew older and began to hear, process, and speak language, those dirty, four-letter words started to creep into our vocabulary. Dare I print them in this book of sermons? Words like "can't," "quit," "won't," and "don't."
As a teenager, I had a tennis coach who had played basketball for the L.A. Lakers. He was a tremendous athlete. He taught me many lessons about tennis, the most important of which was determination. For instance, he would make me do a dreaded exercise which involved bending my knees and getting lower and lower to the ground. I loathed this exercise and whenever he asked me to do it I would protest, "I can't! I can't!" One day I said that word one time too many. He jumped over the net, ran up to me, put his face in mine, and said, "Son, get that word out of your vocabulary because can't never could!" He was right. We are our own worst enemies. We tell ourselves we "can't" and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Paul must have known the defeating power of the word "can't." Paul must have known that even the Holy Spirit cannot do much with a person who is convinced that he/she can't. Why else would he have proclaimed to the Philippian church, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (3:14). Paul was confident that no matter what life threw at him, the power of Christ would be there to shield him. You see, God never quits on us. Why should we quit on God? Yet whenever we do quit, God says to us, "Get up! Get up! Get ready to go again. For you don't want to miss the best part of your life!"
Whenever Paul felt like quitting, he must have sensed this kind of encouragement from God. What else would have enabled him to write and, most of all, live out these words:
... As servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet we are well known; as dying, and see -- we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
-- 2 Corinthians 6:4-10
Paul Deflected
As you can readily see from Paul's testimony to the Corinthians, Paul had enemies who did everything they could to intimidate him. His critics within the Church insulted him. The Jewish leaders slandered him. The government authorities threatened and physically tortured him. But Paul was not buying. He deflected all such intimidations like waving gnats from his face and said with righteous arrogance, "Should a person like me flee? If God be for me, who can be against me?"
There will always be critics when you are attempting something noble, taking the high road, or living out what you understand to be God's purpose for you. There will always be jealous or insecure people desiring to foil your plans. There will always be backbiters who will try to intimidate you. There will always be critics affirming your failures. Yet when you do fail, and you are down in the dirt of self-pity, and your critics continue to shake their fingers at you saying, "I told you so," just remember:
The victim says, "I can't";
the victor says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
The victim says, "It's not my fault!"
the victor says, "I am responsible for my actions."
The victim says, "We never did it that way before";
the victor says, "Nothing venture, nothing gained."
The victim lives in fear;
the victor walks by faith.
The victim sees problems;
the victor sees opportunities.
The victim strikes back;
the victor turns the other cheek.
The victim harbors resentment;
the victor forgives even as God has forgiven him.
The victim gives up;
the victor presses on.
The victim explains why it can't be done;
the victor believes it can be done.
The victim offers excuses;
the victor sets an example.
The victim is reactive;
the victor is proactive.
The victim says, "With man this is impossible";
the victor says, "With God all things are possible."
The victim says, "The odds are against us";
the victor says, "If God be for us, who can be against us?"8
Sir Edmund Hillary made several unsuccessful attempts at scaling Mount Everest. After those failures, he finally succeeded. But he learned from his failures. For instance, one time he stood at the mountain's base and shook his fist towards it and said, "I'll beat you yet because you are as big as you are going to get -- but I'm still growing." Every time Hillary climbed and failed, something inside of him grew and grew and grew. Then there came that special day when all of his growth made a difference, and he did not fail.9
Perhaps you are on the cusp of a great decision for your life. Perhaps you are ready to move beyond your mediocrity. Maybe you are deciding to be the person that God has called you to be. Maybe you are willing to take advantage of all those situations of your life that have caused you to grow. Maybe you are just about ready, and all you need is one slight push. I believe I have just the right motivator:
I read of a reverend who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone from the beginning ... to the end.
He noted that first came the date of her birth and spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.
For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth,
And now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not how much we own, the cars, the house, the cash.
What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.
So think about this long and hard. Are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left. You could be at dash mid-range.
If we could just slow down enough to consider what's true and real
And always try to understand the way other people feel.
And be less quick to anger and show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives like we've never loved before.
If we treat each other with respect and more often wear a smile,
Remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.
So when your eulogy is being read with your life's actions to rehash,
Would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?10
When all is said and done in your life, will there be more said than done, or done than said? You decide! The clock is ticking, and God's adventure for your dash is waiting.
____________
1. John Ortberg, If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2001), pp. 47-48.
2. Taken from an e-mail titled "Today's Humor."
3. Quoted in David C. Cooper, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (Atlanta: Discover Life Ministries, 2000), pp. 29-30. Used by permission.
4. Phrase coined by Susan Jeffers.
5. Attributed to Theodore Roosevelt.
6. Quoted in "The Candler Connection."
7. Ortberg, p. 136.
8. Cooper, pp. 47-48. Used by permission.
9. Ortberg, p. 24.
10. "The Dash," by Linda Ellis, copyright 1996 by Linda Ellis, www.lindaslyrics.com. Used by permission.
