There is an irony here. The less time we have to think, the more we need to think! So I recommend to you my discovery: I’ve found that I need an hour each day just to think — except on extremely busy days, when I’ve found I need two.
Most of us are made the tiredest not by activity but by the avoidance of activity. We are worn out by the constant pressure of what we don’t do. After all, procrastination is a very hard road to travel — its emotional toll is exceedingly high.
Belief in the resurrection is not an appendage to the Christian faith. The resurrection is the indispensable fact of the gospel. Without it, the gospel is not good news. It is not even helpful religious philosophy. It is simply nonsense.
Faith and hope are important, but without patience all is lost. Since the beginning, many have put their faith in God, and some even their hope. But few have had the patience to wait until He is ready to make all things beautiful . . . in His time.
As we near the end of life, there are some unique difficulties to be dealt with. But the years of our greatest maturity should be the culmination of what we have learned and done. Autumn is not the downside of spring — it is the fruition of spring.
We need to see time as a resource over which we’ve been made stewards. This treasure has been committed to us with the understanding that we are to use it to the best advantage, and that we will eventually have to give account for our stewardship.
We need to aspire to more than comfort in this world. The really good things almost always lie outside our comfort zones, and they involve risk. But a life with no risk is a life with no accomplishment, so let’s quit putting such a premium on safety.
We often have to make a hard choice: when others are falling by the wayside, do we keep going or join the crowd and give up? The hardest thing to endure is the sight of those around us not enduring. We must finish the race, even if we run alone.
As we faithfully enter into the various assignments the Lord has for us, we should expect to be assailed with sorrows and uncertainties. It is perfectly natural to respond to the difficulties of our duty like Jeremiah: with a broken heart.
In addition to knowledge, we need courage. Fighting on the Lord’s side is not for the fainthearted. And we must understand: courage does not mean not being afraid; it means that we go ahead and do whatever needs to be done, despite our fear.
