Words To Remember

.'Proverbs 4:1-10

A few years ago, I began collecting memorable thoughts and quotes. My regret is that I didn't start earlier. I'd be willing to trade my stashes of WD-40 and duct tape for those message outlines, good jokes, and countless facts I've heard and forgotten along the way. Recently, I pulled out a few thoughts that "jumped out" at me for a variety of reasons. See if you agree that they are worth far more than the boxes of baseball cards I also should have kept.

1. What we have at the center of our attention is what has us. King David is both a positive and negative example of this principle. Whatever he gave his attention to would either "make him" or "break him."

2. God loves us enough to accept us as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way. Could anything be better? (Philippians 1:6).

3. Nothing is so relevant as the eternal. A Jewish man named Asaph learned this truth thousands of years ago while struggling with feelings of envy, disappointment, and doubt (Psalm 73).

4. Attack problems. not people. I get the two confused until I remember the words and spirit of Christ (Matthew 5:43-44).

5. To change, we must want something else more than what we now have. Scriptures say we will find the Lord only when we look for Him with all our heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

6. Live for what you will not regret when you die. "What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?" (Matthew 16:26).

7. The secret of abundance is found not in what we have, but in what we enjoy (or are thankful for). Paul expressed this in Philippians 4

8. Fear God-not to run from Him, but to Him. This might be even more basic than loving Him (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10).

9. We can learn more from our critics than our admirers. One group tells us how wonderful we are. The other tells us the truth (Proverbs 27:6; Psalm 141:5).

10. "When I am in the presence of God, it seems profoundly unbecoming to demand anything" (Francis Schaeffer). No one understood this better than our Lord, who said, "Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done" (Luke 22:42).

-MART DE HAAN