Happy Friday, Friends!
I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama!
I am reading a great book by Craig Groeschel titled, Fight: Winning the Battles That Matter Most. I was reading Chapter 4.2 which is titled, One Day, when I came across something that I knew was true, is very simple to understand, and yet, hit me in a profound way. It reads:
“Samson didn’t ruin his life all at once. He ruined it the same way men have been ruining their lives since the beginning of time.
He ruined it one step at a time.”
He then went on to say something that I want to share with you…
“Have you noticed that being in the wrong place never helps you do the right thing?”
So, the question on this beautiful morning is this, where are your steps leading you? Each one of us will take a step today; is it leading us to who we want to become, to where we want to go? Easy to understand, hard to live.
And something else strikes me; we live in an instant gratification society, and we want everything NOW! Perhaps you answer the questions above honestly and you are not taking steps to become who you want, and you are not anywhere near where you want to be. Guess how it changes? One step at a time. No, you will not be tomorrow who you want to be or where you want to be, however if you take just one step today in the right direction, you will be one step closer. And then we must make the same decision the next day and the next and the next… And then, one day, we will find that we have become who we wanted to become, and we will be where we want to be. Or we can choose the path of Samson…
Pastor Craig goes on to refer to Judges 15:20 – “Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines” – and then Judges 16:1 – “one day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her.” As Pastor Craig notes, he is on a great 20-year run, leading Israel well, and then one day… And thankfully Pastor Craig did his research. According to what Pastor Craig found, it would take 56,250 steps from where Samson was in Zorah to where destruction awaited in Gaza. 56,250 opportunities to stop and change direction. 56,250 chances to do the right thing. And for those of us who are wanting to take one step in the right direction every day, that is 154.10 years’ worth of choices!!! Overnight success or failure…hardly!
So, I will ask the questions again; where will your steps lead you? Will they lead you to who you want to become? Will they lead you to where you want to be? It's one step, one day, one evening, and the consequences are eternal!
A few things for you to ponder as we end this Happy Friday:
“Consider this. If you're going somewhere and you're off course by just one degree, after one foot, you'll miss your target by 0.2 inches. Trivial, right? But what about as you get farther out?
· After 100 yards, you'll be off by 5.2 feet. Not huge, but noticeable.
· After a mile, you'll be off by 92.2 feet. One degree is starting to make a difference.
· After traveling from San Francisco to L.A., you'll be off by 6 miles.
· If you were trying to get from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., you'd end up on the other side of Baltimore, 42.6 miles away.
· Traveling around the globe from Washington, DC, you'd miss by 435 miles and end up in Boston.”
*Source: Antone Roundy, A Mere One-Degree Difference, whitehatcrew.com
“I was an overnight success alright, but 30 years is a long, long night.” – Ray Kroc
“To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you're going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.” – Stephen Covey
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluence.com.
Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious family, and please stay well!
Kev
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