Accept No Imitations
Life is like the old prospector sifting river sand in hopes of finding gold. Sometimes we sit and wait for the mother lode and throw the small nuggets back into the river.God may give us many small answers to our big prayer for whatever we value or need. Frankly, I don't know what I do with the mother lode that many people seek. Pleasure, fame, and wealth may in fact be cheap imitations of real happiness. It all depends on how we define gold. God doesn't seem to desire to make me rich. I am glad that he decided to give me a family that loves me and cares about me. I wouldn't trade them for all of the money in the world. I see wealth, pleasure, and fame as fool's gold. I am not against people being rich and famous or enjoying pleasures. They can be good and even healthy if we put them in the right perspective. Too often they turn our attention away from God.
Some people strive to be the best of the best, which means that only a few of us can be the best. I believe that what God makes of our lives is not only the best, but is also a unique and unrepeatable miracle of God. I like to watch track and field events on TV. Every athlete. has trained hard to win a gold, silver, or bronze medal I am inspired by all of them because the least of them accomplishes things that most of us can't do. To ascend to that level of physical prowess requires a disciplined routine and a commitment to excellence. The limelight is not God's light.
Robert Schuller tells the story of a janitor who took an impossible look at the possibilities of his life. He decided to prepare for and run in the Boston Marathon. Before that, his muscles and joints saw very little physical exercise. His dream wasn't to win the marathon; it was to finish the race. Though he eventually won many marathon races in the senior division, he was always content to be all that God would make of his life.
If we strive to be someone else, we end up being an imitation of another person. In work and play, and goals and dreams, God will make something out of our lives that is genuine and real. I listened to a man who had a PHD and a six figure income. God called him to leave his job, his income and hi s life style, and teach at a small college created by overseas missionaries . It was there that God helped him to find and be his unique and genuine self. God wants us to reach goals that don't leave us being strangers to ourselves.
The question is, do each of us want to be ourselves, the person that God created us to be.? A Chinese woman was pressured by her parents to study hard so that she could be a medical doctor. It was clear that she had the intelligence and the drive to succeed in medical school. One day she awoke to the really that she wanted to earn a Fine Arts degree and become an artist. It was a difficult choice because she knew that her whole family would be disappointed. She succeeded in become an artist and it worked out well for her. Perhaps that is what we mean when we say, "Be true to yourself."
Bear
Some people strive to be the best of the best, which means that only a few of us can be the best. I believe that what God makes of our lives is not only the best, but is also a unique and unrepeatable miracle of God. I like to watch track and field events on TV. Every athlete. has trained hard to win a gold, silver, or bronze medal I am inspired by all of them because the least of them accomplishes things that most of us can't do. To ascend to that level of physical prowess requires a disciplined routine and a commitment to excellence. The limelight is not God's light.
Robert Schuller tells the story of a janitor who took an impossible look at the possibilities of his life. He decided to prepare for and run in the Boston Marathon. Before that, his muscles and joints saw very little physical exercise. His dream wasn't to win the marathon; it was to finish the race. Though he eventually won many marathon races in the senior division, he was always content to be all that God would make of his life.
If we strive to be someone else, we end up being an imitation of another person. In work and play, and goals and dreams, God will make something out of our lives that is genuine and real. I listened to a man who had a PHD and a six figure income. God called him to leave his job, his income and hi s life style, and teach at a small college created by overseas missionaries . It was there that God helped him to find and be his unique and genuine self. God wants us to reach goals that don't leave us being strangers to ourselves.
The question is, do each of us want to be ourselves, the person that God created us to be.? A Chinese woman was pressured by her parents to study hard so that she could be a medical doctor. It was clear that she had the intelligence and the drive to succeed in medical school. One day she awoke to the really that she wanted to earn a Fine Arts degree and become an artist. It was a difficult choice because she knew that her whole family would be disappointed. She succeeded in become an artist and it worked out well for her. Perhaps that is what we mean when we say, "Be true to yourself."
Bear
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