Seize the Day!

Did you ever wish life had a rewind button? I know I sure have. Like the day I stuck my finger in hot, melted chocolate to see if it was ready for pouring. I jerked it back out quick enough but the damage had been done.  What about those times we say things we shouldn't say. A co-worker of mine once walked up an told me that another co-worker had caught her sleeping in the closet. The boss was standing right next to me when she said it. OOPS! Rewind!

Unfortunately life doesn't give us that pleasure. We have to make the most of every situation while we can. There is an old Latin expression, "Carpe Diem" , that seems to sum it up. Simply put it means "seize the day". Take advantage of the right now. There are so many things around us that need doing. There is always something we can find to be productive in right where we are. Seize the day!

I can only speak for myself. I have wasted for too much time in life worrying about the yesterday I can't change and the tomorrow that may never arrive. It is time to seize the day. A portion of time, once spent, can never be regained. We must make our choices carefully. There are some things that we can not undo.

I am thankful that God forgives and restores. He can renew us when we have fallen and need his grace. But I am not necessarily thinking of sin. I am thinking about the hasty decisions we are prone to make and then wish we wouldn't have. The old saying is "act in haste, repent at leisure." We know the young are liable to make quick decisions without considering the consequences. But I have seen some "not-so-young" folks make bad decisions as well. My thoughts were, "they should have known better."

Now I'm not saying we should be afraid to make decisions. Being afraid to make a decision is not healthy either; it holds back any progress. I'm only saying that we need to be careful to think things through. If  I have one shot in life, I want to get it right. In life there is no rewind button.

Carpe Diem! Seize the Day!

Thoughtfully,

Sullivan Jones

The Bucket List

I recently heard a term I wasn't familiar with: bucket list. I was reading Facebook and saw a conversation where someone was talking about their bucket list. I had to ask my wife to learn that this is a list of things people hope to do before they die. It seems the term evolved from the old cliché "to kick the bucket". I suppose I have a vivid imagination but I could just see someone walking around with a bucket trying to cram as much as they could into it.

 

I am reminded of the story Jesus told about the man who wanted to tear down his barns and build bigger barns to hold more of his accumulated wealth. Then Jesus said, "You fool, this very night you will be required to answer for your soul." I am sure the man's wealth meant very little to him after he stood in judgment before God.

 

 Those of you who know me know that I love to travel. There are a whole list of places I'd like to see and things I'd like to experience. There was a time when the things I wanted to do defined everything about me. I was motivated but what I wanted to do and nothing else. If an item wasn't on my "bucket list" I  considered it a waste of time no matter how important it might be.

 

It took me a while to realize that there were things God might have planned for me that weren't on my list. In fact, I am convinced that the best way to make God laugh is to give him a list of things we think are important. It is not that he is a callous, indifferent God. It's just that his ways are so much higher than our ways. God is truly like a parent and we are so often like children. We demand to have things the way we want them and he knows that some things are simply not good for us.

 

Now I am all for dreaming. I believe God wants us to better ourselves. Without a dream very little would be accomplished in this life. But we can't be so set in our dreams that we don't leave room for God to redirect our paths as he sees fit. A very popular book came out several years ago called The Purpose Driven Life. In it the author sets forth his idea about how we all need to be driven by a purpose to keep us going. It sort of sounds like that bucket list again.

 

Everything I have ever said I would never do I have found myself doing. I remember telling a junior high football coach that I never wanted to work as a janitor. I spent three years working as a janitor and it was a very good experience, though somewhat humbling. I told a mentor of mine that I never wanted to work with little kids. If I taught, I wanted to teach high school or college. I make my living working in Head Start. I didn't realize what a joy it can be to work with children until I was involved in it. You get the picture.

 

You see, the problem with making our own lists is that we usually set our sights to low. God wants us to prosper. He designed each of us with a purpose. But only he knows what all that purpose will encompass. A bucket will be way to small to hold all the good things He has for us if we yield our lives to Him.

 

Lord, help me not to limit myself to a bucket list. The sky is the limit with you in control. Amen.

 

Prayerfully Yours,

 

Sullivan Jones

I Need You to Survive

I awoke this morning with the words from a song by Hezekiah Walker going through my mind. The song is called "I need you to Survive" and speaks of our need for each other. The words are not just beautiful, they are true. None of us was created to be an island. God put a need deep in the heart of the most austere of us to have human companionship.

There are some, like me, who treasure their quiet times. Others feel the need to have people around all the time and enjoy being the center of attention. All of us have our unique personalities. But their is one thing that is certain: none of us can make it through life completely alone. The very first thing that God said after making Adam was, "It is not good for him to be alone." I don't think God was thinking only of romance, though he did create that need in us as well. The bigger picture is that he created us to be socialites. We enjoy living, working, and playing together because God intended it to be that way.

Corrie ten Boom was a heroine of WWII. She spent many months in solitary confinement for hiding Jews in her home to protect them from the Germans. In her book The Hiding Place she describes the joy she felt the first time she was allowed to emerge from her cell and go to the shower room. She frantically looked around to see if perhaps her sister Betsie, who was in another cell, had been allowed out as well. She first felt disappointment at not seeing her. Then Corrie realized her error. Later she would write these words: "These are all my sisters. How rich is anyone who can simply see human faces."

As I contemplate these words I am so thankful for the people God has put in my life. God has given me family and friends. I have a church full of people who love me; and I work with people who have gone out of their way to show me that they care. It is so easy for us to take one another for granted. We build walls that separate us over the silliest things. Yet the walls that seem to protect usually just make us lonely by keeping others at bay.

I am making a fresh commitment in my own life to reach out to others. I want people to know that I care and that they are important to me. I may not even have to say it. A smile, a kind word, or a helping hand will probably be enough. Would you join me in letting someone else know how much you need them? We need each other. I need you to survive .....



I Need You To Survive
I need you, you need me;
we're all a part of God's body.
Stand with me, agree with me;
we're all a part of God's body.

It is His will that every need be supplied;
you are important to me,
I need you to survive.
You are important to me,
I need you to survive.

I pray for you, you pray for me;
I love you, I need you to survive.
I won't harm you with words from my mouth;
I love you, I need you to survive.