Making a Name for Yourself

After graduating from high school, James Dobson arrived on the campus of Point Loma College for his freshman year. He walked into the administration building and saw a large trophy case, with a two-foot-high tennis trophy prominently displayed in the center. Engraved on the shaft were the names of all the collegiate tennis champions back to 1947.

As he stood before the historic trophy, he said to himself, “Someday I’m going to add my name to the list of legends.” Becoming the college tennis champ was his highest goal in life at that time. Nothing mattered to him more than that. Dobson lettered in tennis all four years, and just as he dreamed, his name was inscribed on the big trophy. He was happy to know that future generations of students would stand at that display case and read his name on it.

Fifteen years later, he received a phone call from a friend who had visited the college. By chance he found the tennis trophy that had Dobson’s name engraved on it in the dumpster! The athletic department decided to get rid of the less significant trophies to make room for their new displays. That trophy, which meant so much to him, was now just a piece of junk no one wanted. Dr. Dobson concluded, “If you live long enough, life will trash your trophies.” (James Dobson, Life on the Edge, 59-61)  

Many people want to make a name for themselves so they’ll always be remembered. But the fact is, not long after you die, no one will even remember that you lived on this planet. “For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten” (Eccl. 2:16). Instead of living to glorify your name, live to glorify God’s name. “The world is passing away…but the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17).

No one will remember you after you die, but if you’ll live to please the Lord, He will remember your name throughout eternity.

www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY: Why do the gospels list different names for the disciples?

Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net 

Ageing and Wanting to Look Younger

A young man was brought into court for making fraudulent claims. He had been arrested for selling “fountain of youth” pills, alleging they could keep anyone young forever. The judge asked the arresting officer, “Has he had prior arrests?” 

“Yes, your honor,” he replied. “He was arrested for the same offense in 1979, 1956, 1931, 1918, 1874, 1849....”

Many people would like to turn back the clock and look younger, so they’ll buy skin care products and have cosmetic surgeries. Someone told me that scientists have developed a formula to make people to look young again. They just have to iron out few wrinkles before it’s put on the market.

Time crawls when you’re young, but time goes faster as you grow older. Comedian Mark Lowry explains: “When you’re a child, you think of age in fractions. You are 5½ years old, going on 6. No one says, ‘I’m 36½ going on 37.’ Time speeds up after 21. You turn 40. You reach 50. You make it to 60. Now you’re going so fast that you hit 70.”

Do you wish you were younger? The best days of your life are right now, and God can still bless you at your current age. If you’re 15 years old, it’s God’s will for you to be 15, not 21. If you’re 65, it’s God’s will for you to be 65, not 25. 

David said, “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned or his children begging for bread” (Psalm 37:25 HCSB). He reflected on his life and declared that no matter what your age, God is faithful to guide you and provide for you. David also said, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6). If goodness and mercy are following you for your whole life, it means everything will turn out fine. 

So then, live for God and enjoy life. Starting right now. 

www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

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BIBLE STUDY: How did the book of Revelation get off the island of Patmos?

Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net  

Making Plans

When President Ronald Reagan was a boy, his aunt took him to a cobbler to have some shoes made. The shoemaker asked young Ronald, “Do you want a square toe or a round toe?” Reagan couldn’t decide, so the cobbler told him to come back later.

Two days later he told the shoemaker he still hadn’t made up his mind. “Very well,” the cobbler replied. 

When Reagan picked up his shoes, one shoe had a square toe and the other a round one. “Looking at those shoes every day taught me a lesson,” Reagan said years later. “If you don't make your own decisions, someone else will make them for you.”

 If you don’t make plans for your life, someone else will. Without plans you’ll bounce around like a ball in a pinball machine, reacting to every circumstance until you run out of energy. Suppose you’re on a cruise ship and ask the captain, “When do we plan to arrive?”

He answers, “Plans? I don’t make plans. I just trust God to control the waves and guide the boat to the right destination.” Some people drift through life that way. They float around like a rudderless ship, hoping they’ll drift to the right dock.

However, God’s guidance includes making plans. “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Prov. 16:9). Once you have prayerfully made your plans, commit them to the Lord. “Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established” (Prov. 16:3). www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net  

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BIBLE STUDY: What is the Q Document?

Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net