Saturday, February 10th
'18
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rights reserved © message by Kris Jackson
THE
MAIN THING IS THE MAIN THING
"...whose
mind is stayed on thee" (Isaiah 26:3)
The aquatic scientists agreed that one group of
beached whales got that way by chasing plankton toward the beach and couldn't
get their brakes to work in time. You think it is hard stopping a semi-truck
downhill in fog, try stopping a whale with no pavement. People likewise tend to
get sidetracked by little rabbit paths. That occurs when we lose focus of the
main thing. John Maxwell teaches that the main thing is to keep the main thing
the main thing. And what is the main thing? Dentists need to zero in on teeth,
brain surgeons, brains. For Christians the sole business is soul business.
Everything revolves around the mission. When the Bolshevik Revolution broke out
in Russia in 1917 the Russian Orthodox clerics were voting on what color their
vestments should be. Diverted from the main thing Lenin decided for them, RED,
like it or not. Today's church worries as much about carpet color as they
did the color of their robes. Remember, the mission gets beached when we lose
sight of our calling.
Pascal wrote, "We make nothing of eternity and
make eternity of nothing". The main thing is time and eternity. Paul commanded,
"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16). We want to be
chincy on price, wait for the right deal or whatever, but Paul didn't say to
redeem money, he said to redeem time. Money can be lost then made back again;
not so time. Once it's gone it's irreparably gone. At age twelve Jesus cried,
"I must be about my Father's business". He was well aware of the main thing.
At Alcoa the main thing is aluminum. For
President Bush right now the main thing is fighting terrorism. Someone else can
deal with America's sewer systems right now; I want him sticking with the main
thing. When Iacocca was over Chrysler the main thing was profits. Other CEOs
spent time in yachts. His attention was on what sells. He kept the main thing
the main thing.
That's good advice for about everything. If the
discussion at supper deals with a dent in the car don't bring the in-laws into
the argument. Schools need to get back to the three R's and quit trying to
shape culture. Making sure the kid can read when he gets out of high school is
the main thing. Quit going for perfection, start demanding production. The
apostles had better things to do than wait on tables. They gave that job over
to the deacons and announced, "We will give ourselves to prayer and the
ministry of the word" (Acts 6:4). They just about fell for the trap of making
the menial thing the main thing. Martha worked up a sweat over the kitchen
stove while Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. What is more important
is a judgment we make many times through the day. Jesus said, "Mary has chosen
that good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42). I hope
modern-day Marys don't lose their hearts serving the trivial. You can't shirk
domestic concerns but at the same time don't fail to cultivate the spiritual
you. It was easy for Paul to say -"the time is short [so let them] that have
wives be as though they had none". He put ministry before marriage. That's a
personal judgment call but it just shows that he believed in keeping the main
thing the main thing. I know you have a lot of things to do today. Which is
most vital? What can be delegated? Focus on the main thing, not the vain thing,
and you'll already be way ahead of the game.
