Daily Devotional – 2/10/12 “Keep Living!”

There was a man, an attorney, who was always in a rush. He got up in the morning rushing to shower, brush his teeth, dress, and eat breakfast only to rush to the car. He drove fast to whatever destination always blowing the horn when someone wasn’t driving fast enough in front of him. He would always rush to get to his desk so that he could check email messages, voicemails and to get a jump start before his co-workers arrived because he was the top attorney in the office and he felt like nothing could stop him. One day he received a memo about the upcoming changes in the law firm because of the death of the owner but he didn’t care because he had heard about the owner’s wife and she was “godly” and this was something he didn’t believe in. So, a few days later, while rushing off the elevator, he bumped into this woman who was waiting to get on and not having the time to even see if she was alright, he said sorry and kept on running. She tried to stop him to talk but he didn’t have the time. The next morning, the same woman was in the office at the exact same spot as yesterday and again she tried speaking to him but he was in too much of a rush to even notice, but she did. See, that memo that he received talk about the new owner of the law firm and how she would be in the office every morning to meet the members of her staff but he had thrown it away without reading it completely. She was recently widowed and her husband was the owner of the firm and since he was no longer alive, the ownership shifted to her. Now, on the 3rd day of her being at the elevator when he got off, she finally stopped him. She went to introduce herself but he told her he didn’t have time at the moment and if she needed anything to see the receptionist but again she tried to talk. Now, he was really frustrated and finally asked, with his voice raised, what he could do for her? She looked him in the eye and told him simply, “Get your stuff out of your office because your services are no longer needed here!” He couldn’t believe it but then he realized who it was that he had been passing the last 3 days and his cockiness kicked in full gear. He asked, “Do you know who I am? I am the top performer at this law firm because I don’t lose cases. I don’t call in sick because I am healthy and I don’t have issues that keep me from doing my job and if you don’t believe me check my numbers! How can you fire me? You surely must be mistaken!” She then interrupted him to say, “Yea, I know who you are but do you know who I am? While you are pushing pass folks running to get here and there, you were passing your blessing. Yea, I understand that you think you are the top performer at this office but I beg to differ. See, just because you don’t call in sick now, keep living. Just because you don’t face issues like the others right now, keep living. Just because you think you have it all figured out right now, keep living.” He replied with a smirk saying, “I am living and I have a very good life one that I’ve built for myself without the help of your God and if you want to throw it all away by firing me, go ahead because I won’t be out of work long and it’ll be your lost.” She replied, “Yea, it may be my lost but that’s a chance I am willing to take. While you are busy fighting the world and paying the devil for the blessings he’s giving you, they’ll run out and you’ll be back walking in a slower pace trying to get to know my God but until then you keep living and do it well!” See, it’s easy to brush people off, not answer phone/text because you don’t want to be bothered or act a fool when someone is not doing things your way but have you ever stopped to think that maybe they are going through something or trying to give you something? That person you waved off could be the blessing you’ve been waiting for, but how would you know? You go to get your car tags renewed and never even ask the lady at the counter how her day is because you want her to hurry up and serve you but did you know that maybe she recently had a death in the family? Or you’re driving on the interstate and a car swerves into your lane and there you go cursing, throwing finger signs and waving your hand like crazy but that person could have spent all night at the ER with a sick child, did that cross your mind? Maybe the person that is asking you for spare change is an angel that God has sent into your path to see if you would actually be a blessing. The bible states in Hebrews 13:6 “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” See, when you take the time to be a blessing, God will take the time to return the favor. Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” Yea, I know that you may not have but a few dollars in your pocket but the person asking don’t have any and if you share the little that you have God will increase what you have left. Don’t be quick to say that the folks standing at the liquor stores or sleeping outside should go and get a job because at one point they were just like you and one illness or death turned their world upside down and now they have to beg to eat and if you don’t think it can happen to you, keep living! If you think you’ll never be the one asking somebody for food, keep living. If you don’t think one day you can end up in the hospital or in a grave just as quick as you blink, keep living. Grandma always say, even on your well days you are sick enough to die, so just keep living! Stop acting like folks owe you anything! Yea, I know your time is precious but if you can spend all day getting your hair done or cut and sit in the nail shop for hours, you can surely give folks a few extra minutes. You go out to eat because you’re too lazy to cook and then you get impatient with the waiter/waitress because your food is taking longer than you thought but it’s not their fault because they aren’t cooking it. You get mad when the kids get home a few minutes later from school but they don’t drive the bus. You get upset at the doctor because you had to wait but I know you saw the waiting room full of people when you walked in, so you should have known you would have to wait! If you are living in this world, whether you are a Christian or not, you will have trouble because the bible says in Job 14:1, “A person who is born of a woman is short-lived and is full of trouble.” This scripture didn’t say a Christian born of a woman but it says a person, so it doesn’t matter who you believe in because trouble is still promised. Stop acting like you’ve never ate roman noodles, potted meat, Vienna sausages or cold-cuts because if you haven’t keep living. If you never ran out of gas because the money ran out before payday, keep living. If you’ve never been scared that MLGW was going to cut your lights off, keep living. If you’ve never received a bad report from the doctor, keep living. If your child never does anything wrong, in your eyes, keep living. Smile when folks walk by, say a simple hello when you walk in the room or goodbye when you leave out, offer prayer instead of always gossiping, share the message from Sunday instead of entertaining mess, help somebody in need instead of hindering progress and lead, don’t follow. When you bless someone, God blesses you. Don’t act like you got it all together when you see folks in need because you’ll need somebody else too. Just because today isn’t the day you have to go through a storm, keep living because either you’re going through a storm now, getting ready to go through one or just coming out of one so don’t be quick to talk about others!