The Apostle Paul wrote in 1st Cor. 11:1 “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” There are 100 blog posts I could write on that simple verse. You want to have people who are great examples in your life to emulate. Think about your children when they were little; they learned from you because they imitated you and what you did. The question is when people meet you, what do they see, who do they see, and do they see Jesus in how you live your life? KT
All posts by Keith Thompson
The one thing
We all have one primary thing that we know in our hearts that we are supposed to do. In fact, that we have to do.
The theme, “One Thing,” is common throughout the Bible. In the Garden of Eden, you will remember there were two trees: the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Good and Evil. God told Adam and Eve to eat of everything in the garden except from the Tree of Good and Evil. All they had to do was this one thing. It’s important to note that God placed the tree in the “midst” (in the middle) of the Garden. You ask why didn’t he place it hidden in the corner? Well, it was supposed to be a daily choice for them and one that they had to face every day. It’s that way for us also; we all know there is one part of our life that we need to be careful of and stay away from, and it is a daily choice we must make.
The Apostle Paul in the New Testament spoke of “This One Thing I do” setting aside the weight that holds me back and striving toward the mark, of the calling of the high God. Isn’t that a great example of what God wants for our lives?
We all know there is one primary thing that we are supposed to do and if we don’t do it, we will miss God’s best for our life. Probably no one will even know if you did or did not do it because we hide behind all types of issues and things in our life so no one will ever really know. I know what my one thing is, and you know what your one thing is. I also know that if I don’t do it, I will forever know that I missed God’s best and perfect plan for my life.
You ask what my one thing is…Well, you’re not supposed to ask. Ha.
See, I stutter and my One Thing is the temptation to have the fear of speaking. That’s right, it’s the temptation to have fear. See, I don’t have the fear, but I know it is a temptation away; once I let it begin, I will never be able to stop it. The temptation is to “pull back” and hide behind emails, conference call, but not really go right at the issue. It’s always easier to “hand off” things to other people, be reserved, and not wade out into the uncomfortable area. God has a sense of humor, I am convinced, because he made a man who stutters a salesman. How funny is that? Couldn’t he have found someone better for the job? Well, he could have, but God put me in that job and said I will be with you.
What’s holding you back from being all you were meant to be? Do the One Thing you need to do. I heard a guy say one time “do something every day that scares you and makes you uncomfortable.” KT
Go back and start over
Funny story. We bought a lake house 11 years ago on Lake Lanier. We bought the house in February of 2003 and got some work done to the house, etc. One of the things we did was get the boat dock fitted with a boat lift for the ski boat. Remember, it’s February. So, when the boat lift was complete, I needed to bring the boat to the house, so I put the boat in the water at the marina a couple of miles from the house. The thought never occurred to me that the lake house and dock would look different from the water side. Well, as you can fast forward and guess, I fired up that Mastercraft boat and blew right by the house and never even saw it. I ended up out of the main channel in the big water and just simply could not figure out where I was. I hate to admit this, but it spooked me just a little. It was cold, and I literally could not get my bearings on where I was. I had to stop the boat in the water, get the map out, look for the marker on the shore, and try to find the same marker on the map. It took me 45 minuets in the cold to figure out what to do. I finally decided to go back to where I started and complete a “do over.”
I went back and got a “do over” and finally found the right destination. I think sometimes in life, it’s that way for us. We look around, don’t know how we got where we are, and can’t find the map markers to get us back. Spiritually, it’s like that sometimes with God, and we just need to go back to where we started and last heard God, and ask him for a “do over.” I find that he is always waiting for us to return, and he is always willing to lead us to the proper destination if we will simply ask him. KT
God’s hand
I believe when we ask for God’s direction, he either places his hand on our chest or on our back. See, I believe if the door you are planning to walk through is within God’s plan for your life, he places his hand on your back to help you through the door. If what you are planning to do is not in keeping with God’s plan, we will place his hand on your chest to stop you from going through the door. The question is are we listening to God and do we know where his hand is placed?
In 1988, I made a decision that almost cost my family’s financial future. I wanted (yes, I wanted) to buy some fast food restaurants from some friends of mine. Looking back, I believe God not only had his hand on my chest, but I believe he was trying to wrestle me to the ground. Ha. This was a wrong decision for me to make and God knew it, but I wasn’t listening. I did what I wanted to do. The rest of the story is we almost went bankrupt and it took eight years to get out from under that bad decision. After God got my attention, and I knew I was in trouble, like God wants us to do, I went to him and asked for his help; I said to God, “Lord, I have missed it and made a mess of things.” There are some decisions we make that are not easy to undo. Some, in fact, are life-changing. In my case, I had to suffer through the decision and work through the outcome, but I knew God was helping me.
So, with the decision you are planning, has God got his hand on your chest or your back? KT
Cycling
My two son-in-laws got me into cycling two years ago. When I started, I never felt so old, fat and out of shape as I looked around at all the young guys in their fancy riding uniforms. Then, I met Joel and Neil, and it all changed. Joel is 72 years old and Neil is 80, and they both ride with the best of the young guns. As I understand, Neil qualified for the US senior cycling team when he was 79. Joel completes several “centuries” (100 miles) a year and is one of the most in shape guys I have met.
Next time you wonder which sport is the most physical and demanding, well, it’s cycling. The condition you have to be in to do a century tops all sports because its usually a 6-7 hour ride. When you see the Tour de France and think, “that looks easy,” remember those guys ride a century every day for the 20 something days the Tour lasts. The last time I did a moderately long ride, it took me 3 days to recover.
So, I say to myself, it’s never too late to start, but the real challenge is just starting. Isn’t that how it is for most changes in our lives that we know we need to make? It’s the starting that counts and the journey, not the destination. KT