By Brenda Cannon Henley
With the beginning of what we all hope is a truly Happy New Year, we are hearing words such as success, planning, goals, hard work, encouragement, achievements, growth, and gratitude, among others. We all have some sort of a plan whether we voice it or not. Do you know who will be successful in meeting goals at the conclusion of 2020? The man or woman who is “all in” and committed to reaching those goals.
Pastor Paul Hayenga of Community Bible Baptist Church honed in on this two word sermon title today. He began by asking members of the congregation to name their favorite Bible character. Several named their choice – Abraham, Soloman, King David, Ruth, Mary, Noah, and others. Pastor Paul then asked if the hearers knew what character trait all these heroes of the faith had in common.
Impassioned guesses came from all over the large auditorium. All were good. Consistency, hard work, love, faith, concern for others, and several more traits were given. Pastor Paul said that the one thing he saw in each life was that the hero was all in to whatever he or she was doing.
I love enthusiastic people. My old pastor, Dr. Curtis Hutson, said often, “Excited people excite people.”
If we want to engage someone else in something we are involved in, approach them with excitement, enthusiasm, and energy. No one wants to be a partner to failure, fear, and forfeiting. We need to be all in for the project to be a success and mean something to those involved.
Having attended hundreds of sporting events over the years, I truly enjoy the competition, the skill, the teamwork, the coaching, and the spirit of striving together, and fair play. My vote for favorite player will not always go to the teammate that makes the most points, but more often than not to the player that tries the hardest, and is clearly all in the game.
Pastor Paul said his favorite character was the Apostle Paul and he shared several illustrations from his life showing his all in spirit. In Philippians 3:14, Paul wrote, “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” He had his eyes on the prize and was all in to obtain it. He had his detractors, as we will have. However, Paul was dedicated and determined to reach his goal. He was ALL IN. If we are to be successful in 2020, we must be ALL IN and keep our eyes on the prize.
Brenda Cannon Henley can be reached at (409) 781-8788, or
[email protected]
[1-7-2020]
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