(BTW-My pastor doesn't get credit for that quote. He was quoting something he heard from some leadership conference thingie.)
I like quotes about leaving it all on the field. I don't know why. I'm not a great athlete. The pinnacle of my athletic achievement came during that one basketball game in the sixth grade when I made two free-throws in a row. (I tended to be dead-on, as far as aim, but the first shot would *ALWAYS* fall short.) Now, all I do is run, but not for very long or far. Just enough to keep in shape. Not enough to kill me. I don't sweat easily, so I don't get a lot of that awesome brow sweat unless I really push it (or wear a sweatshirt and sweat pants in the summer--did that once just to see what it was like. STUPID ME.)
But, anyway, back to the quotes. I have this file on my computer of inspirational quotes (cheesy, I know) and I've got these quotes that I want to be reflected in my life. You know some of the classics:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
-- Theodore Roosevelt
"Bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible."
-- William Shakespeare
My whole life I've been afraid to strive with things *possible* It's not that I'm afraid of the work itself. I'm just afraid that I'll do all of that work, and I'll still fail. Don't you know that sometimes even hard work and a lot of wishing can't save something from failing?
There's dreams I have that I haven't even attempted because I don't want to be left on the field by myself, the armor getting heavier with every valiant try. Sometimes I want to try something bold, but it would require stepping out into the arena instead of just sitting in the audience and watching everyone else succeed or fail. If I had a guarantee that I'd succeed in the end and show them all, then that would be one thing, but I don't remember seeing that guarantee written on a contract anywhere.
And then at the end of your life, what if Jesus wipes that sweat off your brow--but not in the way you'd hoped? What if it happens more like a disgruntled parent cleaning up a dirty child who should have known better than to get *that* dirty and skin his knees and rip the pocket on his new pair of jeans?
And yet...yet lately I've felt the urge to say, "Let's try" when I'd normally want to say, "I can't." I've felt the urge to take risks, to attempt something harder than I've ever attempted before in my life. I've felt the urge to spend my life more on the important things that will last an eternity than the things that have no eternal value.
I don't know where these crazy thoughts are coming from. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, and I realize that my presence on this earth as a 20-something isn't eternal. Maybe it's because now, more than ever, I'm recognizing that whole "harvest is plenty but laborers are few" concept. Maybe I'm just feeling the presence of God in my life now more than I ever have in my life and can't help but want to be used, even in the ways I would never have picked for myself, if it'll bring others to Him.
So, when I get to heaven, if He says, "Well done good and faithful servant," that'll be amazing.
But if he decides to just wipe the sweat off my brow, that'll be just as amazing. I'll get it.
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Now for your regular Sunday Digest
1. I almost tripped over the cross of Jesus Christ, which we left on the stage for me to trip over, apparently. Maybe if I wouldn't wander from my worship stool.
2. I briefly danced during the last song we sang. Don't freak out. It won't happen again. I promise.
3. I ate a country fried chicken steak for lunch that did not agree with me at all. I think it's because I haven't eaten a huge fried thing in awhile. My friend wondered why I didn't want to take the other half home with me...
4. The sermon was a rerun from a couple of Wednesday nights ago. Just another reason why being in the ministry is such a cushy job. :O)
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