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See also Commitment
See also Conviction of Character
R.M.M'Cheyne
"Oh, how sweet to work all day for God, and then lie down at night under His smiles!"
Henry Ford Sr.
Chop your own wood, and it will warm you twice.
"Hudson Taylor prayed about things as if everything depended upon the praying, but then he worked as if everything depended upon the work."
A sloth is out for a walk when he's mugged by four snails. After recovering his wits, he goes to make a police report. "Can you describe the snails?" asks the officer. "I don't know," replies the sloth. "It all happened so fast."
C.H.Spurgeon
"A do nothing professor is a merely nominal member, and a nominal member is a real hindrance."
Everybody, Somebody, Nobody and Anybody
Once upon a time, there were four people; their names were Everybody, Somebody, Nobody and Anybody. Whenever there was an important job to be done, Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. When Nobody did it, Everybody got angry because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought that Somebody would do it, but Nobody realized that Nobody would do it. So consequently Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done in the first place.
Todd's wife bought a new line of expensive cosmetics guaranteed to make her look years younger. After a lengthy sitting before the mirror applying the "miracle" products, she asked, "Darling, honestly, what age would you say I am?" Looking over her carefully, Todd replied, "Judging from your skin, twenty; your hair, eighteen; and your figure, twenty five." "Oh, you flatterer!" she gushed. "Hey, wait a minute!" Todd interrupted. "I haven't added them up yet."
John Henry Newman
"A man would do nothing if he waited untill he could do it so well that no one could find fault with what he had done"
W.W.Wiersbe
"A friend of mine kept a card on his office desk that read
'Faith Is Living Without Scheming'"
Contribution from Andy Stovel (Who else)
Ravi Zacharias in his book "Can man live without God?" tells the following story. A young somewhat cocky cowboy was riding his horse one day when he spied a hunched over old farm hand on a mule. Deciding to have a little fun the young cowboy drew his 6 shooter and told the old man to get down of his mule. He then asked the old man "if he had ever danced" and began to empty his revolver at his feet with great laughter. The old man slowly turned back to his mule (unamused ) and put his hand into his pack and drew a shotgun and aimed it at the now bulletless young cowboy and he said "did you ever kiss a mule?" To which the young cowboy said with fright "no but I have always wanted to!" There is nothing like a bullet for motivation. While the Lord does not put a gun to our heads he does give us the stories of the Bible for direction and motivation, are you listening.
Use of time.
One day, an expert was speaking to a group of business students. To drive home a point, he used an illustration those students will never forget.
As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered over achievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz". Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar, and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top, and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full"? Everyone in the class said, "Yes". Then he said, "Really"? He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he asked the group once more, "Is the jar full"?
By this time the class was onto him. "Probably not", one of them answered. "Good", he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in, and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full"? "No", the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good". Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration"?
One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it". "No", the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is, if you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all".
What are the "big rocks" in your life? A project that YOU want to accomplish? Time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause? Teaching or mentoring others?
Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. Tonight or in the morning when you are reflecting on this story, ask yourself this question... what are the 'big rocks" in my life or business? Then put those in your jar first.
Brett Blair, Sermon Illustrations, 1998.
Mother Teresa was once asked, "How do you measure the success of your work?" She thought about the question and gave her interviewer a puzzled look, and said, "I don't remember that the Lord ever spoke of success. He spoke only of faithfulness in love. This is the only success that really counts."
Harold A. Bosley, The Minister's Manuel 1993, HarperSanFrancisco, p. 169.
David Livingston, one of the most virile Christian leaders of all time, had as his motto "Fear God, and work hard." He learned it in his austere home in Scotland and practiced it all his life. Livingston belongs to that select company of souls who not only know that not only good intentions are not enough but know also that their most strenuous efforts will not complete the really big jobs. Even so, they tackle them with all the energy they have and for all the days God gives them to live.
Superbowl
It is a surprising statistic but no football team that has a domed stadium and artificial turf as a home field has ever won the Superbowl. And even if one should win in the future the statistics will not be in their favor. The conditioning of a Superbowl team requires rain, wind, mud, heat, cold, and snow, and sleet. No team will be ready for the challenges of the Playoffs who has not undergone the test of the elements. A winning team must consider all the possible scenarios and prepare for them.
Ref. - Your Daily Walk - P.81
"No statue was ever erected to the memory of a man or a woman who thought it best to leave well enough alone."
Fresh out of business school, the young man answered a want ad for an accountant. Now he was being interviewed by a very nervous man who ran a small business that he had started himself. "I need someone with an accounting degree," the man said. "But mainly, I'm looking for someone to do my worrying for me." "Excuse me?" the accountant said. "I worry about a lot of things," the man said. "But I don't want to have to worry about money. Your job will be to take all the money worries off my back." "I see," the accountant said. "And how much does the job pay?" "I'll start you at eighty thousand." "Eighty thousand dollars!" the accountant exclaimed. "How can such a small business afford a sum like that?" "That," the owner said, "is your first worry."
Exercises Nobody Needs:
1. Jumping to conclusions
2. Running around in circles
3. Wading through paperwork
4. Passing the buck
5. Pushing your luck
6. Throwing your weight around
7. Jumping on the bandwagon
8. Spinning your wheels
9. Dragging your feet
10. Adding fuel to the fire
11. Climbing the walls
12. Grasping at straws
13. Firing back
14. Sneaking around
15. Stretching the truth
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