Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Wednesday April 14, 2010

A motivational quote from Nightingale.com set me to thinking and often my thinking winds through ancient history to modern projections of how to build colonies on the Moon or Mars. Sometimes my musing is more thorough than that of a wife rehearsing her tirades to present to her husband with whom she is displeased.

One image stuck in my mind which on the surface appears to have nothing to do with the quote, yet upon further reflection it is the real meat of the quote. Around New Years each year most people present the ideas, changes and goals for the coming year. In so doing a characteristic of the ancient god, Janus is often used. According to the legend Janus had two faces (He had served in Congress) one face looking forward and the other in the back of his head to review the past. Some suppose he spent time musing on the past and future with equal time. Common sense teaches a different truth.

The face is on front for a number of reasons, not the least being that the rest of the body is engineered for forward motion with only an occasional glance rearward. Many express this observable truth with a statement that helps many; "Where you are going is more important than where you have been."

With the bulk of the race I battle the tendency to constantly look back and relive the stupidity of yesterday or last year or a few events of a generation ago. I know these events are under the blood, but still the grip reasserts its pseudo power and paralysis sets in thus disabling forward progress.

Noted Cowboy/Indian/philosopher, Will Rogers, commented on this and Nightingale listed it as their quote on April 7, 2010. Chew on this for a spell:

"Never let yesterday use up too much of today."

Keep in mind that enough today's eaten up by dwelling on yesterday will add up to a lifetime wasted. Only TODAY can be used to build a better tomorrow.

The practice of establishing your future through prayerfully discovering the Lord's will and then focusing on the goals associated with His will contributes to inner peace, spiritual prosperity (and often fiscal) and enables a majority of time to be used for God's glory, the achievement of your life focus. Simple? Amen. Easy? You must be kidding.

Paul may have been a cowboy/Indian/Philosopher for he said in Philippians 3:14:

"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2010 Use with credit

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