Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, The Last Arrow: Save Nothing for the Next Life (p. 114). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I’m so glad you stopped, and I hope you will read on.   This thought could change the direction of your tomorrow. Erwin continues, “This is why it’s so important to act as if your life depends on it. Your actions have momentum. Every action has a reaction; every choice ushers in a future. If you just sit there, if you just stand around and hope that the world will get better, if you settle for what is because what you long for demands too much of you, then this thing called life will always seem elusive to you. Existence is a slow death; mediocrity is like quicksand that slowly consumes you and sucks the life out of you. What will it take to create in you a sense of urgency? What conditions or circumstances will be necessary for you to finally refuse to surrender to de

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, The Last Arrow: Save Nothing for the Next Life (p. 110). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) It is so true that many people settle for less than what God has in mind for their life.   Erwin says, “Be careful of embracing the type of spirituality that has a deep disdain for ambition and hides apathy behind a language of simplicity. If you want to live a simple life, that’s a beautiful thing. If you want to use it as an excuse to live beneath your God-given capacity, that is negligence.” He goes on, “I have always thought it was odd that people who can create wealth would consider it more spiritual to choose a life of poverty. Poor people don’t choose to be poor. Those who are trapped in poverty do not choose to be trapped in poverty. We do not help the world by choosing to be less or do less; we help the world by choosing to be more and give more. There is

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, The Last Arrow: Save Nothing for the Next Life (p. 100). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I know, I know.   It is so easy to blame God for not coming to our rescue but maybe it isn’t up to him. Erwin says, “We expect God to act but we never take responsibility to act ourselves, which is why so many of us never get down to that last arrow. We decide that playing it safe is the reasonable choice. We tell ourselves that only fools would believe that their best future would exist in a place of their greatest danger. What we can be certain of is that God is never apathetic. If there is apathy involved, it is ours. What in fact might be in play is that we haven’t prepared to receive what God wants to give us. It is unfortunate, but far too often it is desperation that creates openness to the provision of God. And beyond a desperation for our own survival, we are