Thought for the Day

[Robert E. Chatfield]

When you really want to do something, you'll find a way; When you don't, you'll find an excuse. 

 

From the famous childhood nursery rhyme:

"There Was a Crooked Man"

There was a crooked man
Who walked a crooked mile
He found a crooked sixpence
Against a crooked stile
He had a crooked cat
Who caught a crooked mouse
And they all lived together
In a little crooked house

(I add these lines to that famous rhyme)

But then this crooked man
wore a crooked smile
that made me aware
he was happy all the while
This crooked little man
stood taller then the rest
He took what life had given him
and in return gave his best.

"Always do all you can do with all that you have available.

What you cannot do give to God."

"Good, Better, Best"

By Bob Perks

 

"So, how was your day?"

"Good.  It could have been better."

How often have you said that?

I know I have.  I don't always appreciate how really good my life is at the moment. 

It's fine to think that things could be better.  It acts as a motivator to try harder.

But why diminish the real value of the day?

I think if we could see a graph of our entire life, we'd discover that some of the days we thought were good were really excellent.  Compare them to the really challenging days you have lived and those good days suddenly have more value.

When I was growing up I always used myself as the target of a joke.  They call it self deprecating humor.  You make fun of yourself in order to make people like you. 

I carried it through adulthood. Tell me I had a beautiful voice and I'd say, "What, are you tone deaf?"

Isn't that the same thing when we choose to not see how truly incredible our life is at any moment?

In an effort to change that, when asked how I am now, I automatically say, "Excellent!"

Some days I'd even say, "Super, fine and getting better!"

At one store the cashier was shocked by that. She called out to another nearby,

"Hey get a load of this! This guy is doing excellent!"

She replied, "Well, you ought to work here!"

I often thought about that moment and wondered if she really knew how good she had it even as bad as she thought it was.

Good.  Better.  Best. 

Yes, I had a good day today.  Better than expected.  I gave it my best.

Try responding more positively when asked how things are in your life.  Even when they are not.  The truth is, each of us has challenges.  Say "Excellent!" then work to make it so.

I listen to older people talking and they often talk about health.  Oddly one tries to out do the other.  The one who wins is the one who is doing the worst.

"You think you have pain!" 

Then they compare scars.

Then they talk about how long they've been in pain.

The winner is?  

More pain for the longest time and more scars to prove it.

Turn your good into better and your better into best by declaring that things are excellent.  You will not only begin to feel better about your life,  you'll work to make it so and discover that more people will be drawn to you.

Attract positive people and your life begins to change.  Change your attitude, change your life.  Change your life, change your world.

Me?  "I'm super, fine and getting better."

I believe in YOU!

Bob

[Robert E. Chatfield]

Teach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart, teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Alma 37:33

 “No evil dooms us hopelessly except the evil we love, and desire to continue in, and make no effort to escape from. ”                                 George Eliot, Daniel Deronda

 “Whatever their bodies do affects their souls. It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out...”      C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

 

“The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces.”   Will Rogers

 

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”  Albert Einstein

 

When to Cut and Run

 

"Flee also youthful lust: but follow righteousness, faith charity, peace, with them that call on the lord out of a pure heart."¹

Several years ago many will remember the terrible fires in Southern California that burned some "500,000 acres and destroyed nearly 1,500 homes. Seven people died in the blazes." We live in Southern California where one of the forest fires could be seen from our street—about five miles away. While our home was covered in dirt and ashes from the Santa Ana winds and the fires, we were tremendously grateful to God that we were safe and our home spared.

I've also experienced bush fires (as they call them in Australia) and have seen the terrible devastation they cause. I have joined with neighbors to fight fires on the hill where we then lived. It's scary stuff.

I don't know if the people who lost their lives in the California fires failed to heed the warnings to evacuate their home. However, of this we can be certain, many more would have lost their lives had they not evacuated ahead of the fires. We are extremely grateful for all the firemen and police officers who warned people to evacuate their home.

Temptation—which we all face from time to time—can also be like a raging fire and far too many people fail to heed God's warning to flee from it. Consequently, they end up getting burned badly and many shipwreck their lives.

Even more important is to heed God's warning concerning Hell fire at the end of this life. As God's Word warns, "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.  This is the second death.  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."²

I don't know where and what hell is but we know that it will be eternal suffering in a life that is totally separated from the love and presence of God, the author of all love and life.

The scriptures also warn, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation: which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.³

Whatever you do, make preparation to meet God while you have time and accept his gift of salvation and the forgiveness of your repented sins. It is a free gift from God who loves you with an everlasting love and does not want you to miss out on Heaven and be lost in Hell. Be sure to be absolutely certain your name is written in God's book of life!

1.      2 Timothy 2:22 

2.       Revelation 20:14-15

3.      Hebrews 2:3