i think paul felt that at the end of his life when he said i finished the fight, i've run the race, i've fought the good fight, i've finished my course. paul is saying, i have that warm feeling of satisfaction, that i did the best i could.
i think that is the way JESUS felt on the cross. when HIS final words were, it is finished. now HE didn't say, I am finished, HE said, it is finished. big difference. because HE wasn't finished. HE said, it is finished. what? salvation's plan. what? all that GOD had sent him to earth to do. i think that was a shout of victory. it's finished!!! i've done it!!! i've done exactly what GOD had wanted me to do and there is that warm sense of accomplishment that comes.
you see, people are happiest when they are striving for something worthwhile and meaningful in life. that's when they are happiest.
you notice back there in the garden of eden, it said that GOD gave them something to do there in paradise.
folks, paradise is not continuous leisure. there was work even in paradise.
i want to tell you that the most pathetic and most board people in the world are people who have nothing but leisure. they are board to death.
some people say, man if i could just quit work and go sit down on laguna beach and just sit and soak and tan and you'd last about a month and a half if you had nothing more than to just sit on a beach. some of you wouldn't last two weeks.
the fact is that GOD says there are emotional benefits to working. it builds self-respect in your life.
just a thought from the front porch…
No comments:
Post a Comment