every. single. day.
Looking back on the last year: my story is won of success and of failure, of highs and of lows, of love and of strife, of pastures and of desert, of community and of loneliness. Life is hard, and we could all say that. Even through our riches, our blessings, our relationships, life is trying and testing. It becomes very easy to be miserable, angry, and selfish, slowly losing hopes and ideals; while it is even harder to strive towards those goal and ideals, bettering yourself, those and around you, and the world along the way.
We have some many goals, so many dreams, so many ideals that aren't happening to us now but will someday. We have this vision of someday that is better than today. For me, I want to become fit and healthy. I want to get a PhD in Petroleum Engineering. I want to become a professor. I want to have a family and raise Godly children. I want to start a church. I want to live in Denver. I want to start a micro-brewery. I want to take care of those who are hurting at every opportunity. I want see God's name declared holy everywhere. I want to see Jesus' Messiahship everywhere. I want to be a part of an honest, loving, accepting community. I want to look back on my life and say that I ran my heart out to be first place, not just to finish the race. I want to say that I relied on Jesus every step of the way.
But, what I have learned and seen and heard in this last year is that it is much easier to do what I want to do today. It is easy to eat a bag chips while drinking beer and sitting on the couch when after work and call it a day. It is easy to not care about the details at work and do the easy assignments. It is easy to not care about the people in my life, locally and globally. It is easy to drive by the homeless guy at the stoplight. It is easy to say that the world is a dark place. It is easy to think that no one is willing to hear about God and the scriptures. It is easy to just get by every. single. day. It is easy to think that it is a hopeless cause to strive for something better. It is easy to think that we don't have a choice.
...but we do.
We do get to make a choice every. single. day.
The Navy SEALs are world renown as the very best warriors and are among the most fit and capable and ethical people to walk this planet. They have a dogma that begins day one of basic training: "The easiest day was yesterday." This serves as a warning to those would be SEALs because the life of a Navy SEAL is insurmountably intense and stressful. However, to some, these words serve as motivation to give 100% every. single. day. to become a SEAL. Once the trainee has comepleted training and receives the coveted Trident, the intensity and difficulty doesn't end, but only begins. There is no easy day in the life of a Navy SEAL. However, those words serve as a reminder to those few men with the Trident that life is not easy, and to truly be great men, they must give it their all every. single. day. Even veteran Navy SEALs will look back at the training and talk about how it wasn't that difficult compared to what they went through in the field, but the mentality that the "easiest day was yesterday" that they learned kept them going.
No "cheat" day
This mentality means that there can never be a "cheat day." We can never take a break to reward ourselves for the hard work. We can't have a feast because we have gone for six days on vegetables and water. The easiest day... was yesterday.
Which reminds me...
God told the Israelites, way back at the foot of the mountain way back after he redeemed them from Egypt, he told them to say the following words every. single. day.
Shema Israel...
Hear, O'Israel
The Lord is God, the Lord is One
Love the Lord your God with
All your heart, with
All your mind, and with
All your strength.
Jesus finished with...
And love your neighbor as yourself.
Say these words every. single. day.
He didn't tell them to repeat these words when the get up, when the leave, when they go to bed, and teach them to their children simply to set up some set of rules and measurements that if they would follow them then they would be rewarded.
These words serve as a reminder every. single. day. that God is One, God alone; that giving everything of yourself in to love God and people is really living; that Jesus, Lord and savior of the world, is worth being like; that walking with God through the pain and the complexities and the confusion and the mistakes is still worth it.
These words are ment to be an ecouragement.
It is not a lost cause.
...so walk with me.
Let's lose weight, get hit, and be healthy. Let's put down the beer and the controller and go for a run together. Let's hop in the pool during our lunch break. Let's go get healthy every. single day.
Let's become better husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors even if we are in those relationships. Let's start today. Let's learn to love those around us better than ourselves every. single. day.
Let's pursue our career or higher education. Let's better this world by even the little things like polishing off the spreadsheet before submitting it. Let our minds be challenged by a new concept every. single. day.
Let's become better men and women of God. Let's become more like our Messiah, our rabbi, our savior Jesus. Let's become people who live out the way God designed us to be. Let's become people of peace every. single. day.
Walk with me. It is going to be tough; in fact, the easiest day was yesterday.
It's worth it.
So let's become better people together...
every. single. day.
Looking back on the last year: my story is won of success and of failure, of highs and of lows, of love and of strife, of pastures and of desert, of community and of loneliness. Life is hard, and we could all say that. Even through our riches, our blessings, our relationships, life is trying and testing. It becomes very easy to be miserable, angry, and selfish, slowly losing hopes and ideals; while it is even harder to strive towards those goal and ideals, bettering yourself, those and around you, and the world along the way.
We have some many goals, so many dreams, so many ideals that aren't happening to us now but will someday. We have this vision of someday that is better than today. For me, I want to become fit and healthy. I want to get a PhD in Petroleum Engineering. I want to become a professor. I want to have a family and raise Godly children. I want to start a church. I want to live in Denver. I want to start a micro-brewery. I want to take care of those who are hurting at every opportunity. I want see God's name declared holy everywhere. I want to see Jesus' Messiahship everywhere. I want to be a part of an honest, loving, accepting community. I want to look back on my life and say that I ran my heart out to be first place, not just to finish the race. I want to say that I relied on Jesus every step of the way.
But, what I have learned and seen and heard in this last year is that it is much easier to do what I want to do today. It is easy to eat a bag chips while drinking beer and sitting on the couch when after work and call it a day. It is easy to not care about the details at work and do the easy assignments. It is easy to not care about the people in my life, locally and globally. It is easy to drive by the homeless guy at the stoplight. It is easy to say that the world is a dark place. It is easy to think that no one is willing to hear about God and the scriptures. It is easy to just get by every. single. day. It is easy to think that it is a hopeless cause to strive for something better. It is easy to think that we don't have a choice.
...but we do.
We do get to make a choice every. single. day.
The Navy SEALs are world renown as the very best warriors and are among the most fit and capable and ethical people to walk this planet. They have a dogma that begins day one of basic training: "The easiest day was yesterday." This serves as a warning to those would be SEALs because the life of a Navy SEAL is insurmountably intense and stressful. However, to some, these words serve as motivation to give 100% every. single. day. to become a SEAL. Once the trainee has comepleted training and receives the coveted Trident, the intensity and difficulty doesn't end, but only begins. There is no easy day in the life of a Navy SEAL. However, those words serve as a reminder to those few men with the Trident that life is not easy, and to truly be great men, they must give it their all every. single. day. Even veteran Navy SEALs will look back at the training and talk about how it wasn't that difficult compared to what they went through in the field, but the mentality that the "easiest day was yesterday" that they learned kept them going.
No "cheat" day
This mentality means that there can never be a "cheat day." We can never take a break to reward ourselves for the hard work. We can't have a feast because we have gone for six days on vegetables and water. The easiest day... was yesterday.
Which reminds me...
God told the Israelites, way back at the foot of the mountain way back after he redeemed them from Egypt, he told them to say the following words every. single. day.
Shema Israel...
Hear, O'Israel
The Lord is God, the Lord is One
Love the Lord your God with
All your heart, with
All your mind, and with
All your strength.
Jesus finished with...
And love your neighbor as yourself.
Say these words every. single. day.
He didn't tell them to repeat these words when the get up, when the leave, when they go to bed, and teach them to their children simply to set up some set of rules and measurements that if they would follow them then they would be rewarded.
These words serve as a reminder every. single. day. that God is One, God alone; that giving everything of yourself in to love God and people is really living; that Jesus, Lord and savior of the world, is worth being like; that walking with God through the pain and the complexities and the confusion and the mistakes is still worth it.
These words are ment to be an ecouragement.
It is not a lost cause.
...so walk with me.
Let's lose weight, get hit, and be healthy. Let's put down the beer and the controller and go for a run together. Let's hop in the pool during our lunch break. Let's go get healthy every. single day.
Let's become better husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors even if we are in those relationships. Let's start today. Let's learn to love those around us better than ourselves every. single. day.
Let's pursue our career or higher education. Let's better this world by even the little things like polishing off the spreadsheet before submitting it. Let our minds be challenged by a new concept every. single. day.
Let's become better men and women of God. Let's become more like our Messiah, our rabbi, our savior Jesus. Let's become people who live out the way God designed us to be. Let's become people of peace every. single. day.
Walk with me. It is going to be tough; in fact, the easiest day was yesterday.
It's worth it.
So let's become better people together...
every. single. day.
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