In 2006, I had the privilege of being sent to San Francisco for a two-day management training workshop.
There were about 50-60 others there from the business world. I was the only person from the church world. I wanted to improve my skills as a manager since I had recently been "hired" to supervise a youth pastor and children's minister.
The workshop was offered by Franklin-Covey, a company that trains folks in time management and assists them to increase productivity and prioritize tasks as one is seeking to find a balance between personal and professional goals.
This company is a by-product of business guru Stephen Covey, who wrote "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People."
One of those seven habits is "Begin With the End in Mind." I won't go all into this habit, but suffice it to say, if you picture in your mind what "the end" of something is like (think completed project, or winning a race, etc.), then you can "easily" determine the steps you need to take to finish or win or achieve something that you've set your mind to.
I was reading in a book of the Bible called Ecclesiastes, and I noticed a similar phrase from this writer. He writes in chapter 2, verse 16:
"For the wise, like the fool, will not long be remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die!" Now, this is just a way of saying that all people will die. But in this book, the writer is helping the reader (me) see that since all people will die, what can I do in the time I have left? He is "forcing" us to consider what are the important things we can do before we leave this planet.
If you know that your life is not permanent here on earth, how does that affect your future? We have all been blessed with life here. Some folks are faced with trials, tragedies and many horrific things. Others have been given time and opportunity to help them, which we sometimes fail to do.
There are a myriad of reasons that we fail—much is because of our own wasted pursuit of "things."
I believe that God is the Giver of all life, for however long we are blessed to live here. I hope that I can use that life to offer love, joy, peace, grace and mercy to those around me who might be in need. No one comes to the end of life wishing they had worked more hours at the office so they could accumulate more money, status and even power.
Rather, I notice that those who come to the end of their lives are always saying or wishing that they had given more away, or spent more time with loved ones or were more compassionate toward those in need.
Living with the end in mind can affect our life today. How might that change you?
By Pastor Mike Umbenhaur, Woodland Presbyterian Church
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