The Fourth Quarter!

A couple of decades ago when I was in my late 40’s a friend recommended a book called “The Second Half”.  It was a Christian book for men, tied to the football theme, to help them consider what they had spent the first half of their lives doing, thinking, and being committed to, and called on them to re-0rder their priorities.  I’m ready for the next book, “The Fourth Quarter” which to my knowledge doesn’t exist, so I might just write it myself.  If I do, this is what it will say in short form;

You’ve live three quarters of your life expectancy, and no one is guaranteed you’ll get all those allotted years!  It’s time to ask yourself the big question; “What did my life mean?”  Did I leave this world, my community, my family, my friends, any better off than they were before I came into this world.  By the time you get into your mid to last sixties, you’ve already seen a lot of your family, parents, grandparents, friends,and some, sadly, their spouses, go on.  It’s to late to have any further affect on those we’ve lost, but it’s not too late to affect those that are still with us.

How can I make a difference?  If you hope to help others you must start with helping yourself.  You may be thinking how can I become “good enough” that I can influence other’s lives?  You can’t.  As human beings, effort and commitment alone will not take us to such a high plane.  To have Christ like characteristics, we must become more Christ like!  This can’t be accomplished with good works, we must submit to the one that actually did it.  Jesus promised that if we would submit to Him, give Him our hearts and ask for His forgiveness, we could become Christ like.  It’s not a magic potion or spell, it’s a long hard walk to learn day by day how to be more like Him.  Why choose Jesus?  Because in the history of the world no single man has made more of a difference, no one man has changed more lives.  He is the real deal.

So here is a simplified action plan:

1.  Get on your knees and ask God to convict you of what you  need to confess to Him and ask forgiveness for.  He will speak to your heart and you will know it is Him, and He is right.

2.  Genuinely repent for your past life, and ask Him to make you new in Him.  Once again He will, and the change will be immediate, though the old man changes slowly, you will be immediately filled with the knowledge that God has forgiven you, and that you have clean slate to start with!

3.  Get into fellowship with other committed Christians, and get into the Word.  God inspired men to write His “manual”.  Read it and study it, ask the Holy Spirit to come into your heart and reveal the truth in it!  Start with an easy to read version like the New Living Translation.  Find other believers, you know more than you think!  Spend time with them, learn from what they have learned in their walk. Gain strength from them, and soon God will be using you to bring strength to others.

4.  Live by one of the most important lessons Jesus laid down, “Do unit others as you would have others do unto you.”  As my dear friend Scott Kelby says, ” you can never go wrong by doing the right thing!” This is the best way to learn what a Christ like walk is all about.

5.  Pray and ask God to help you as you grow and mature.  Ask Him to send you people that you can minister to.  He will, and it will deepen your faith, and allow you to bless others.

6.  Start everyday with this prayer;  “Heavenly Father, thank you for another day to serve  you.  Thank vou for those people in my life that love me, please help me be the husband, father, grandfather (you fill in the blank),  that you desire me to be, and let me do no harm, but lift others up by being obedient to you. Please keep me humble and always mindful that all good things come from you.  Protect me from getting puffed up when you allow good things to happen in my life, remind me that it is You not me, that provides all good things.  Thank you Father for loving me, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to save me, and allow me to bring others to come to know and love you too.  I ask all of this in Jesus precious name, Amen”

Now if you have never gone through these six steps the enemy is filling you with doubt, and telling you all kinds of bad things will happen to you if you listen to this crazy man that writes a blog!!  That’s a lie, God only wants the very best for you and He is waiting to hear from you. You are only six steps away from the life God has always wanted you to have!

I pray that you will take these words to heart and at the end of the Fourth Quarter, I expect to be one of your brothers that is pouring the gatorade over you as we celebrate the ultimate victory, eternity with our Lord!

Blessings,

the pilgrim