Thanks
This series, campaign, blog, devotional, and exercise started out of deep whole and a sleepless night. The future was was not clear. And something had to be done, but nothing seemed big enough. In fact, before I ever wrote the first word, the beginning was different. It took place that felt like there was a wall around me and the pressure to make this thing work, to do more, was paralyzing.
The entirety of this Simply Done! has been about the Mobility and Consistently. A simple life is not easy, it has a lot of hope in it because it contains the present. We can make choices right now that will profoundly impact the rest of our lives. Indeed those choices can determine if the life we live will represent a life lived to the fullest or a life fully wasted.
The simple life is more than mere simplicity. It’s all about focusing on that which really matters, and be willing to discard the rest. It’s about the courage to make some tough decisions now because you know you need to do so. Because you know your family needs you to do so. Because you know God wants you to do so.
The story of the life we want is told in the Bible in Matthew 25:14-30.
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
It’s the story of the master and the three servants who were given talents by their master. They each had a lifetime to do something with the talents. Two of the servants were faithful and did well with the talents. But one was fearful and lazy. The talent was wasted. The opportunity was wasted.
Simply Done! has been the story of making much of the opportunity, not wasting the one life God has given us. It’s the story of faithfulness that means we will hear God’s words: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Thank you for your time. I have both prayed for you. My prayer has been that God used this exercise to move his people to be more like him in all that we are, all that we say, and all that we do.
And that is my prayer for you.
“And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can determine what really matters and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:9-11).
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