THIS ONE THING I DO

"...but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ.." Philippians 3:13,14

Paul lived this. He wasn’t on the local church softball team. He didn’t watch American Idol religiously. He didn’t play chess or bridge....or golf at the local country club. He didn’t get together with the girls for bunco.  Paul lived FOCUS.

Jonathan Edwards, considered by most to be the greatest philosophical  and theological mind America has ever produced, once said, “Resolve to live with all my might while I do live, and as I shall wish I had done 10,000 ages hence.” I hope you will stop and think about that.

Steven Covey in his bestseller “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People”, listed one of the habits as “Begin with the end in mind.” A suggested exercise was to write your own obituary. A bit morbid, but actually a great idea. What do you want your family, friends, and the world to say about you when you are gone? What life do you want to have lived?

While building Microsoft in his 20s Bill Gates DID NOT TAKE ONE DAY OFF for ten years.  “They then do it for a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.”

One of the wisest short sayings I love is “Do things on purpose.” Most of us live accidental lives. Not much comes out of an accidental life.

A W Tozer wrote an essay titled “On Breeding Spotted Mice”

 ( http://tinyurl.com/c45v6mo  ). It would do you a world of good to read it. He tells the story of a man who retired wealthy and proceeded to spend the rest of his life trying to breed spotted mice. Tozer’s point is clear: what a waste of a precious life.

When asked recently what most surprised him about life, Billy Graham said: “Its’ brevity.” John Piper recently wrote a great little book, “Don’t Waste Your Life”. Are you?

….only one life, ‘twill soon be passed; ONLY what’s done for Christ will last.