Be an Overachiever

 

I was a smart kid in school.  I never did homework and I really never really tried at schoolwork, but I got B’s and C’s with an occasional A mixed in.  But in high school, there was one girl who did her very best.  Deena S. wasn’t that smart, but she worked hard.  What she lacked in brains, she made up in sheer willpower.  She devoured her textbooks and did every assignment to the best of her ability.  After graduation, I never saw Deena again.  I don’t know what happened to Deena, but I am confident that whatever career she pursued, she was a success.  That’s because Deena was motivated to do her best.  And in the Bible, the apostle Paul was just that motivated.  Paul persecuted Christians when the church was just beginning, and he did it with fervor.  But Paul saw a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, and he was miraculously born again.  And he was never the same.  Paul was motivated to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.  Paul said in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”  There was nothing that was going to stop the apostle Paul from serving Jesus.  Hey, are you motivated to serve Jesus?  Is Jesus dear to you?  Even if you aren’t the brightest crayon in the box, you can serve Jesus.  Just give Him what you have and serve Him fervently.  Hey, surrender your life to Jesus Christ, and you’ll be glad that you did.

A Mystery

 

Last Saturday, most of our family was over at our house.  The two youngest grandsons were bored and looking for something to do.  Twelve-year-old Bennett had found a flat football and asked me if I had a pump for it.  I answered, “I think there’s a blue one downstairs and a needle in the desk drawer.”  Bennett and nine-year-old Greyson went down to look.  I know how they enjoy snooping around in my basement because I used to snoop around in my grandfather’s basement when I was their age.  So, after they went home that afternoon, I discovered the debris trail of their activities.  From these photos, can you decipher what happened?!

 

As a kid, my dad had explained to me how you lick the needle to lubricate it before inserting (or attempting to insert) it into the football valve.  Then dad told me to suspend the football by the needle while pumping it up because if you put it on the table, it would roll and snap off the needle.  If you look at the blue tape, broken needle, and plyers needed to pick out the broken needle, that Is exactly what must have happened.  That’s because the boys needed a mentor to tell them how to inflate the football.  Hey, you need a mentor in your spiritual life too.  Paul said in II Timothy 2:2, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”  Older men teaching younger men, who grow up to teach other younger men.  That is the way to learn how to grow spiritually ... and to learn how to inflate a football.

Me, Mine, My

Well, the Medicare open enrollment adds have begun.  Or, more accurately, they have just intensified.  They have actually been going on all year, trying to lure in new enrollees.  A football celebrity tells us, “You need to get the benefits that you deserve!”  And “Make sure that you aren’t missing out on benefits!”  Me, mine, and my are mentioned over and over again.  Now, I know that Medicare is important, but there are spiritual things that are far more important.  John the revelator tells us in Revelation 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”  John reminds us that we are not the center of everything; God is.  God is not a “Santa Claus in the sky” to give us stuff.  We were made for God, and we were created by Him to give Him praise and glory!  Often, we get things backwards.  It’s not all about us, it’s all about God.  We are His toys, and we were made to give Him pleasure.  Hey, go ahead and enroll in Medicare to get all of the benefits that you deserve, but be sure to give God the praise and the glory that He deserves!