Making all the difference for this one. Photo-panhala.net
The true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good. –Ann Landers
I sometimes grit my teeth when the stories that have circulated around the internet for twenty years show up in the meat of a sermon or in an article. I was taken back a little with that happening several times in the One Month to Live book, but sometimes the story just fits. Today, the story just fits.
The story is of a businessman walking the beach and he comes upon thousands of starfish that have washed up on the beach and will soon be baked by the hot sun. In the midst of the stranded echinoderms was a boy feverishly picking up the starfish and throwing them back into the retreating ocean. The man felt obliged to convey the futility of the task to the young lad.
“Son, what you are doing is noble, but you can’t save all of these creatures. You really can’t make a difference.”
After staring at the man in a moment of contemplation, the boy cast another starfish into the ocean and replied, “It just made all the difference for that one.”
I am reminded of a poem that I memorized long ago and thankful that I did. It reminds us that our choices do make a difference, even if that difference is only visible to ourselves and God. Sometimes, only God knows the difference.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference
...Robert Frost
There is a term for the bombardment that we in this country and much of the western world receive from the media. That term is narcotizing dysfunction. We get so much thrown at us, that we feel helpless and sometimes become dysfunctional. We don’t have to be overwhelmed by the overwhelming nature of this world’s problems. We can just help the next starfish.
Sometimes we wonder if we are making a difference. If we only had a month to live, what would we do differently to make a difference? Paul offered counsel to a church that he had not yet visited, he told them to offer themselves as a living sacrifice. I’m sure that those with pagan backgrounds at first visualized a personal trip to an altar with a gory outcome, what Paul was talking about and what has come to be known as consecration theology, is that we live every moment of our lives for God. We try to make a difference in each moment. Just as the boy in the familiar story made a difference with each starfish, we are to make a difference with each opportunity in our lives.
In whatever we do, we should do it asking ourselves if it glorifies God. It’s been said that Martin Luther once said that you can milk cows to the glory of God. We can go about our normal day doing extraordinary things. We don’t have to get the headlines to make a real difference in the world.
Let’s look at our make it count moments.
How important is comfort to you?
What convenience would be the hardest to give up?
·Computer?
·Cell phone?
·Microwave?
·iPod?
·Mattress?
·Coffee maker?
·Something else?
How often do you let opportunities pass you by because you feel your contribution would be too small?
What are the starfish situations in your life?
Are you more like the boy or the businessman when it comes to starfish situations?
Years ago, I used to tell my Marines, “Just do it!” Then Nike made this their mantra for a decade. In the midst of that decade, I bought a tee shirt that read:
Marines
Just Do It!
I wore that shirt to run in until it was threadbare, and then still got two more years out of it after that. The world has plenty of talkers, armchair quarterbacks, second guessers, procrastinators, and people who just never get around to anything. We are made for action. We not only must discern God’s will for our lives; we must act on it. Just do it!
Our growth and maturity stagnates as academicians. We are built to be operators, explorers, builders, and people who do things. That doesn’t mean that people in the academic world are not doing things, but learning about something is not enough. We have this gift of life and it is to be used to the full, not just in theory.
Here are the make it last for life challenges for today.
Let’s do Lent One Month to Live style. Select an item of comfort, luxury, or convenience and do without it for 30 days (or if you are taking this challenge in conjunction with Lent, then for the Lenten period).
What cause or group of people have you always been moved by? Make time this week to pray for them and search for a way to use your time, talents, or your treasure to serve them.
Create or become a part of a local mission effort. Find someone in your immediate area who needs help and make it a project to help them. Get others to join you. Plan it and do it.
What do you call a guy with degrees in Political Science and Biblical Studies? What do you call someone that served as a Marine Officer for over 20 years and now pastors a church? What do you call someone with this unique perspective of the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God? Most folks just call me Tom.
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