You are going to meet an old man someday down the road - ten, thirty, fifty years from now - waiting there for you. You'll be catching up with him...What kind of old man are you going to meet? That's a rather significant question.
He may be a seasoned, soft, gracious fellow, a gentleman who has grown old gracefully, surrounded by hosts of friends, friends who call him blessed because of what his life has meant to them. Or he may be a bitter, disillusioned, dried-up old buzzard without a good word for anyone; soured, friendless, and alone....the kind of old man you will meet depends entirely on yourself, because that old man will be you.
He'll be the composite of everything you do, say, and think, today and tomorrow. His mind will be set in a mold you have made by your beliefs. His heart will be turning out what you've been putting into it. Every little thought, every deed goes into this old man.
He'll be exactly what you make of him. It's up to you. You'll have no one else to credit or to blame...Every day and in every way you are becoming more and more like yourself. Amazing, but it's true. You're becoming yourself more and more. Live only in the terms of what you're getting out of life, and the old man gets smaller, drier, harder, crabbier, more self-centered.
Open your life to others, think in terms of what you can give, your contribution to others, and the man grows larger, softer, kindlier, greater...The point to remember is that these things don't always show immediately. But they'll show up sooner than you think.
Those little things so unimportant now--beliefs, attitudes, ambitions---they're adding up inside where you can't see them, crystallizing your heart and your mind, and someday they'll harden into that old man. Nothing will be able to soften or change them...The time to take care of that old man is right now. Today. This week. Examine his values, his motives, his attitudes. Check up on him. Work him over while he's still plastic, still in a formative condition, because the day comes awfully soon when it's too late.
The hardness sets in worse than paralysis. Character crystallizes, sets and jells. That's the finish...Any wise businessman takes inventory regularly. But his merchandise isn't half as important as he is. Better take a bit of personal inventory. We all need it, and by keeping this check on ourselves, we'll be much more likely to meet a splendid old fellow at the proper time. The kind of fellow any of us would like to be.
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap" Gal. 6:7
Oh God, fill us with your Spirit, and help us to keep on being filled in a moment-by-moment walk with you...Take us from this place and help us sow well, and become that old man and woman you want us to be, and all along the way reap a great harvest for your glory!
--Author Unknown
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