How many new year’s resolutions are based on folks losing weight? Too many in my opinion.
If somebody really wants to become lighter they’ll change their lifestyle no matter what time of year it is.
If someone, on the other end of the scale, wants to gain weight all they have to do is eat more and exercise less.
Sounds simple, but it must be hard if so many fail at it.
One of Billy Graham’s sons claimed his father was fat.
They’ve been showing a tremendous number of clips of Reverend Graham on television and the internet recently. From those small pieces of evidence it seems strange for such a claim to be made by someone so close to the man.
Then there was a clarification to the term used in the context it was given. He didn’t mean fat as in Billy ate too much.
He meant the acronym F-A-T…Faithful Available Teachable.
That would explain the man’s legendary status.
I hope the same will be said of me after my life on this earth is done.
I just heard a sermon about being teachable. It’s the attitude opposite pride. Prideful people think they know it all. Teachable folks know they need to know more.
Hungering and thirsting for things like righteousness, love and becoming more like Jesus are main ingredients for success here.
Faithfulness is accomplished one second at a time.
It’s a steady grind in the same direction of remaining true to the truth.
It occurs in a marriage when a spouse only has sex with their partner until they die.
It happens in a Christian’s life when they worship only God through Jesus Christ.
Availability is walking through the open doors God brings into your life.
I experienced this Saturday. I signed up to help with an outreach of our church to underprivileged kids in south Dallas. There was also a huge event going on in the church building where an organization was packing MRE’s, Meals Ready To Eat.
Thousands of folks came from all over to help scoop ingredients into plastic bags, seal those bags and place them in boxes to be shipped to any of 70 countries around the world.
The goal was to pack one million meals in two days. We overshot that number by over 18,000.
When I showed up to join the team going to south Dallas a call went out for more help with The Big Pack.
I quickly got reassigned to the crew. Instead of interacting with inner city kids I moved pallets of 24 boxes from the packing floor to the strapping room.
I don’t know how many children I helped feed in what parts of the world but I do know it’s being done in Jesus’ name so it’s all good.
I could have held my ground and insisted that I need to go to south Dallas to establish relationships with the kids in order to lead them to Christ. It’s a valid reason to hold that stance, especially since this is the only thing close to church these kids experience.
I guess I could have stomped off all upset feeling unappreciated by those who run the south Dallas event.
I’ve had doors close in my face in the past. One of the things I was doing was blessing several people. They told me so to my face.
I was hurt when it happened but I trusted God to open something else in its place.
He did and a book came out of it. Now I don’t know how many more folks will be drawn closer to God because of that change of plans.
Jesus was quite adaptable in His earthly ministry. He would face down the religious leaders one minute and answer the disciples’ questions in the next.
That’s the example He set for us to follow.
That’s what I think about when one door closes and another one opens…even when the next door doesn’t open for a long time.
Don’t waste your time wondering if God can use you.
There are too many things that need to be done in too short a time to ask that question.
Look for an opportunity near you and start there.
You may be surprised at what happens next and the impact you’ll have.
Stay FAT my friends.
I’ll see you later. Wade
