Often people talk about waiting for that big opportunity somewhere down road: when I get done with school... when I retire... when I get married... when the kids are out of the house... when I get that job... etc. The truth is that our greatest opportunity is today.
Each morning I wake up to an alarm clock. The kind that has the loud irritating buzzard that when you hear it scares you awake. When I look at my life and recall some of the most impacting moments, they all had that same alarm clock going off, not some royal trumpet announcing: "Here ye, here ye! Today is one of the most life changing days of your life... it's going to be a great day!"
I remember a sermon several years back entitled "Grow Daily or Die Gradually". The simple truth of that message was that an sort of growth is going to take purposeful effort and action; it's not just going to happen. Either we will make the choice to grow daily, or by default, we will die gradually.
2 Peter 1:5 says: "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith..."
For this very reason... Not my reasons alone, but because of all the reasons that God has done to invest in me. My life has purpose! I don't wake up to my alarm clock just to live pay the bills and try to survive one more day. There's a reason! What's my reason? What's my purpose? Answering this is key in helping me determine what opportunities I have for today. Don't make reasons for why you can't... find a reason for why you must!
Make every effort... This is where it gets tough. How much effort do I put into my day to work towards the purpose God has established for my life? Am I putting forth the effort to put down what's good for what's great? Do I have the discipline to say no to compromise, apathy and laziness? Am I willing to put in the hours, time of preparation and press through the clouds of uncertainty to maximize today? I will either make the choice to grow today, or effortlessly lose ground. There's no such thing as making up for today!
To add... This means increase. Increase my knowledge, my potential, my skills and ability. Think of it as an investor or money. If I had $100 and wanted to increase that money, I would need to put plan together together, calculate the risk and put into action (effort) to add to that $100 a certain profit. I am held responsible of increasing the profit of the initial deposit God has made in my life. Today is seed. If I don't put forth the effort to plant that seed and water the seed already planted, there will be no growth or increase... it will die.
Faith... Not according to what I feel comfortable or confident in, but in accordance to what God has for me. God believes in me more than I believe in myself! It takes genuine faith to give myself to God's purpose, especially when I feel overwhelmed and incapable for His plan in my life. My fear and insecurities will cause me to delay and eventually kill the potential God has established.
I can do better with today. It won't come easily, it will take effort. God help me grow today!
This is so right on with what I shared from Mark Batterson's book.
ReplyDeleteMake every effort-"You don't get credit for auditing Scripture. You've got to put it into practice....In the Western World we make a distinction between knowing and doing. But there was no such distinction in ancient Jewish thought. Knowing was doing and doing was knowing. If you didn't do it, you didn't really know it. Knowledge isn't enough."
To add-"neurologists estimate that we have the capacity to learn something new every second of every minute of every hour of every day for the next 300million years...It's impossible to pinpoint what percentage of our minds we use, but there is untapped potential in all of us."
Faith-"Yet somewhere along the way, most of us stop living out of imagination and start living our of the memory. We stop creating the future and start repeating the past."
We worry so much about the bad things that can happen to us vs. thinking about how much good God has and wants to give us. Step out from our failures and step into God's will for us. The best place to be.