No entitlements

Yesterday I met with the President of Thomas University. He heard about me somehow, and then read my book, and then invited me to be the commencement speaker at their graduation ceremony in May. We were discussing my life story and he told me that he understood my staunch belief that my life was transformed through Christ. And after reading the book he is aware of the miraculous intervention in my life by God at times, but he also said that he saw some things in me that he had seen in other entrepreneurs. One is an absolute fearless approach to business and life and the other was a tenacious perseverance of continuing on no matter how tough things got in my life.

Hmmm He is right about my absolute fearless approach to life. I have such tremendous faith in God, how could I approach life in any other fashion? The Bible tells us that all things work for the good for those who love the Lord. I love the Lord with all of my heart and He has promised that all things will eventually work for the good and I am happy as a clam about that.

As for perseverance, well that is more interesting. My life’s verse is Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.

Okay if we look at this verse closely we will understand that it does not say CHRIST will do all things for me; it says “I” can do all things “through Christ who strengthens me”. Some people have the mistaken belief that just because they have taken advantage of God’s free gift of salvation that they are now somehow entitled to lead a charmed life free from trials and tribulation.

Huh? Christ gives us a free gift of dying for our sins and we decide to accept it and now we are entitled to lead a charmed life without having to do anything but claim to be a Christian??? Entitlements might work with Obama but of course that cannot be the case with God. Christ will assist, but WE must do the heavy lifting and when the load gets too heavy, then we must rely on God for His strength to get us over the finish line.

Perseverance is just understanding this premise and deciding not to give up when things start getting tough. Instead we must just lower our heads, not look up, and work harder and harder and keep calling on the name of the Lord to assist until we succeed. I am often told that I am lucky. I laugh and say, “Yes and the harder I work the luckier’ I get”. Not an entitlement mentality cell in my body I tell you.

I would ask you to think about your life and your commitment to God and your work on His behalf. Also understand that all Christians face trials. I have undergone numerous tragedies in my life and that trend will no doubt continue until my life on this earth ends and I enter paradise.

Many of you have asked about my PET scan. It is scheduled for this Friday; (always on Friday so I can wonder all weekend whether or not cancer has invaded my body). I spoke at the men’s group in Thomasville Baptist church yesterday and one man who reads WFTD came up to me and mentioned his amazement that I don’t worry. I trust in God too much to worry, but that doesn’t mean that I relish the thought of chemo therapy or other radical forms of punishment to my body. My approach however is whatever will be will be. I will get through whatever faces me in the same manner that I always do: trusting God.

Below is an excerpt from an interview with Rick Warren, ‘Purpose Driven Life ‘ author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California that is poignant to my viewpoint.

“People ask me, what is the purpose of life?

And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body–but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act -the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense.”

I have figured it out. It is God’s purpose for my life that is important and not my own. I am prepared to fight the good fight and will do so with as much fearless perseverance as I can muster, calling on God’s strength every step of the way to help me defeat my enemies and spread the good news about Jesus Christ, but when my appointed day arrives and my number gets called:

YIPPEE! I’m homeward bound

2 Chronicles 15:7
“Be strong. therefore, and let not your hands be weak and slack, for your work shall be rewarded.”

1 Corinthians 9:24
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”