ManageYourEmotionsBook8.5x5.5_RevJULY.indd

I love the story about a minister who asked the famed 19 th Century English actorWilliam Macready how he could draw huge crowds performing fiction, while he preached the truth before so few. “This is quite simple,” replied Macready. “I present my fiction as though it were truth; you present your truth as though it were fiction.” 76 Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). Included in this freedom is a release from the bondage of boredom by way of a passionate understanding of the gospel. Consider the brevity of life. “For there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going” (Ecclesiastes 9:10c). “The things that make up employment in this life will not be present in the grave (sheol, the realm of the dead), so make the most of your opportunities now.” 77 The sands of time are steadily shifting from top to bottom in the hourglass.Who among us at the end or our days on this earth, will regretfully look back on what we wish we’d done, especially in matters of eternal significance.As the Bible says, “You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.You are just a vapor that ap- pears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). It’s a simple little story, yet symbolically sums up this chap- ter in just a few words.An onlooker questioned a few men as they worked on a construction project. “What are you doing?” he asked one, who replied, “I’m making ten dollars a day.”A second man responded, “I’m laying stones in this building.”When he asked the third, the worker said, “Why, I’m building a cathedral!” Don’t let boredom block your vision of the work God has for you. Join with Him in constructing His eternal cathedral.

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