March 16, 2021 – Click here to listen
I am still a big fan of motivational speaker Zig Ziglar even though he passed away in 2012. Once I saw him speak in person and he was as charismatic, funny, and razor sharp as anyone I’ve ever heard. He had a unique way of looking at criticism. He said, “Don’t be distracted by criticism. Remember – the only taste of success some people get is to take a bite out of you.” I remember, all too well, being criticized for nearly every project I undertook, but it fell off my back like rain on a duck.
Zig believed in self-motivation and once said, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily. Hmmm…I can relate. I have been writing a Christian song for several years now. It is a beautiful song, but the problem is I cannot get past the first verse.
It gets me so frustrated that I just want to scream and even now on a near daily basis after playing and singing that beautiful verse, I just quit and play another song. It is unlike me not to persevere. I know if I will seriously adjust my mind to sit at my desk and work on it for a while I could succeed, but to date all I do is keep playing those same lyrics over and over again.
I know many people who are in similar straits with their lives and jobs. It is like being stuck on a sandbar at low tide. I can still see the ocean moving all around me but it is simply passing me by because my boat isn’t going anywhere.
It is my belief that those things accomplished in the past including having attained wealth, power, fame, and achieving great things are . . . well . . . in the past. In order to truly succeed we must keep innovating, accomplishing, creating for the present and future. Just look at God’s expanding universe. Scientists agree that it is still expanding. Why doesn’t God just stop? Because it is not in His nature.
It’s not in ours either. So retirement is not mentioned in the Bible; however the Levites did get a change of assignment after a certain age they became teachers instead of hauling ceremonial water.
I’ve never checked but assume most of my readers have some gray hair beginning to pop out. Hey just because you reach a certain age doesn’t mean you have to throw in the towel and quit.
Just yesterday a guy asked how old I am and when I told him he could not believe it. He thought I was 15 years younger than I am. He told me his dad was the same age as me and all he did was sit around complaining all day and rarely left his easy chair.
I don’t care what you have attained in life new success awaits you. I read somewhere that success is the child of drudgery and perseverance. It cannot be coaxed of bribed; pay the price and it is yours. Yes, there is some drudgery involved but take it from me in the end it is well worth the effort.
Okay I have sufficiently motivated myself and have resolved to finish my song. I’m not doing it for money or fame or to receive some award but to glorify my God. Maybe no one will ever play it/hear it on this planet but my wife, my dog, and me, but God will hear it along with a great crowd of witnesses . . .
Hebrew 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,