Whatever turns up, grab it and do it…heartily (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become much more laid back and more of a behind the scenes kind of guy.  When I was younger, teaching and coaching, I was just the opposite.  I was excited about what I did and passed that enthusiasm on to my students.  Maybe they didn’t all jump on the bandwagon, but those that did became quite successful at what they did.

Recently, circumstances have placed me in a position where I have been required to make numerous phone calls (which I dislike), chair a 10-person committee (so much for acting behind the scenes) and speak several different times (progress reports to the church body, remembrances at a memorial funeral).  Plus all the prepping that each of these activities required.  And all this in the span of a few overlapping weeks.  Definitely out of my comfort zone!  But, I did each thing to the best of my ability, and now feel that I am a better person for it.

Solomon writes, “Seize life!…Each Day is God’s gift…Whatever turns up, grab it and do it…heartily!  This is your last and only chance at it.”  Professor Howard Hendricks wrote, “Recently I lost one of my best friends, a woman eighty-six years young.  She was the most exciting lay-teacher I’ve ever been exposed to.  The last time I saw her on planet earth was at one of those ‘Christian parties’ where everyone sits on eggshells and tries to look pious.  In she walked, looked at me and said, ‘Well Hendricks, I haven’t seen you for a long time.  Tell me, what are the five best books you’ve read in the last year?’ (That’ll change the group dynamic in  a hurry.)  Her philosophy was, ‘Let’s not bore each other…let’s get into a discussion.  And if we can’t find anything to discuss, then let’s get into an argument.’  She was 83-years-old on her last trip to the Holy Land.  She went with a group of NFL football players.  And one of my most vivid memories is seeing her out in front yelling back to them, ‘Come on, men, let’s get with it!’  Recently she died I her sleep at her daughter’s house.  Her daughter told me that just before she died, she’d written her goals for the next ten years.”

So whether you are nine, nineteen or ninety, whatever turns up, grab it and do it…heartily.  In other words–put your heart and soul into it.

Courtesy of The Word for You Today.