Sunday I called my father who is 90 years old and has been living in an assisted living home for the past several months and I cheerfully asked how he was doing.
He glumly replied: “I’m BORED!”
I asked, “Have you made any new friends?”
“No, I’ve met a lot of people and speak to them, but they are all old and BORING! I wish the Lord would just take me on home.”
I answered his depressed view of his world with silence and after an uncomfortable delay he finally asked, “How are you doing?”
I said, “I’m the opposite of bored. I can’t find enough time in the day to accomplish everything on my plate. Today, like most Sundays, I’m really dead tired and thankful to get a little rest.”
His sharp retort was, “You need to retire! You can afford it.”
And my sharp retort to that: “Why? So I can be bored too?
It seems to me that much of the world wants to hurry up and retire. We lead active lives, work hard, save our coins and then retire to boredom and nothing more than a desire for the Lord to “take us on home”. God did not create us to be bored with a death wish. This world God created for us is fascinating with virtually unlimited opportunity for exploration and discovery, and if we are bored by it, we have only ourselves to blame.
Yesterday I wrote of living each day to its fullest. A friend sent me the following:
Life is not a journey to the grave
With the intention of
Arriving safely in a pretty
And well preserved body,
But rather to skid in broadside,
Thoroughly used up,
Totally worn out,
And loudly proclaiming,
WOW !!!! What a ride!
I could not have expressed it any better if I tried for a hundred years.
I think God is disappointed when we adopt a jaded philosophy of disinterest in the marvelous things He created for His beloved children. Even though we are fallen, we can still walk with the Lord in this modified Garden of Eden in the cool of the evening. He wants us to live life to its fullest and He has an individually tailored plan for every single one of us. He has fully equipped us to accomplish His purpose and stands ready to assist whenever we call upon His name.
We do have to do our part thought, and therein lies the problem for so many of us.
This little blue marble suspended in space by God’s own hand can be/should be spellbinding, captivating, mesmerizing, enthralling, interesting, beguiling, alluring, appealing, and intriguing to the millionth power –
(Any of that but not boring!)
Whenever I evaluate employees the first thing I take a look at is their attitude. Do they have a positive, cheerful attitude? Are they passionate about their job? Do they want to go for the gusto and be all they can be for themselves and our company?
I wonder if God evaluates us in similar fashion…I think maybe He does.
Will God evaluate you as having a positive, cheerful attitude? Are you passionate about doing the Lord’s work? Do you want to go for the gusto and be all you can be for the Lord and in so doing for yourself?
God wants us to succeed and mightily so – I honestly don’t think He wants anyone to fail. He and all the angels of heaven are watching and urging us onward. Sing along: Onward Christian soldiers marching as to war – With the cross of Jesus going on before…
Don’t disappoint our King… Selah…
Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.