Years ago someone gave me a round piece of wood the size of a coin. These words were written on it, "This is a "roundtoit". Spend this coin doing the important things!"
You know the things you are going to get around to doing. One day I will travel. Some day I am going to learn how to play the piano. When this happens, then I am going to make this happen. All of us have these fleeting thoughts. We live with the idea that time will never run out and things will get done. Life remains busy. We stay in the rat race of life. We walk the treadmill at a great pace going no where only to find that tomorrow we must get back on it.
So as this year ends and a new one begins what will you do? In the year ahead, will you get "aroundtoit"? Or will this year be the same as last year?
O. Dean Martin was a preacher I heard when I was in my late teens. I still remember some of his sermons. I guess it was a time when I was searching. Maybe it was the time when I was allowing God to imprint my heart with certain messages that would get me through the rest of life. One of the lines that Dean gave to me still rings in my ears. "Bring the matter to a crisis!"
Crisis usually finds us. Rarely do we seek to make them. However a crisis demands us to respond. Most of the time a crisis brings a reaction. However a planned crisis can be a time of responding. It is the day that you decide to make it happen. You are going to take action. Planned crisis involved a strategy with some level of accountability. Avoidance is no longer an option.
As the year begins what are you willing to make happen? Maybe you should think about some areas where planned crisis would be a good thing. Prayer life? Stewardship of all resources? A change in the direction of your life? A different allocation of time--family over work, self care over indulgence, rest over busyness, or forgiveness rather than bitterness? Instead of a critical tongue an encouraging word?
Maybe you have heard this before. To translate certain words into another language it sometimes requires more words. The word, "crisis" in the Chinese language is translated "dangerous opportunity".
We like to think that time will never run out. There are endless days and hours to get things done. This is an illusion. We all have a limited amount of time on this earth. None of us know when our time will end. This is why the important things in life must get done today--this year.
Make this the year of doing it. Whatever "it" is for you--make sure it gets done.
Pray for me as I pray for you. Happy New Year!
In the Master's Name,
Dr. M. Jack O'Dell
www.stlukesimpson.org
www.midweekmanna.com
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