Posts

Showing posts from January, 2011

Old Men at the Gates

Way back in Biblical times the old men of the city would go every day to the city gates and there mediate disputes, give advise and otherwise counsel those who came for help. Their years of experience, knowledge of the local laws and understanding of human nature were all beneficial to inhabitants of the city. It also kept the courts from being over whelmed by penny ante suits. Today we seem to try our best to put our aged ones out of sight and out of mind. We consign them to nursing homes, assisted living facilities, etc. Anything to get them out of our hair. As we do so, we also lose the benefit of their wisdom gained by years of living. As I was thinking of this I was reminded of the book, "Marley and Me". Only occasionally do we find someone who stumbles upon the gold mine of experience and wisdom locked in the minds of those with lots of "miles" on them. This week I took time to watch the DVD "The New Karate Kid" starring Jackie Chan and Will S

Priorities

I remember the story of a man who gave Andrew Carnegy a slip of paper with an idea on it and said, "Try this, and then send me what you think it's worth." The story goes that six months later Carnegy sent the man a check for $25,000. So what was on the slip of paper? A simple idea: write down the 10 most important things you need to do tomorrow. Then rank them in order of importance. Tomorrow begin with number one and work your way through the list, not leaving one until it is done. That idea has served millions of people well over the years. Long before that idea, Jesus Christ presented a better one. In Matthew 6:33 He said, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." Why is it that we find it so hard to do that one thing? Probably, for most, we don't understand what it means to seek first the kingdom of God. Perhaps we have no idea of what the kingdom of God is. Let me share a few thought