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I wonder if Thomas Edison were one of our generation whether he would have theorized 10,000 possibilities for creating the light bulb, but never actually tested them.
I wonder if Paul Revere were one of our generation whether he would have moaned about the poor colonists who were about to be taken unawares, but never actually mounted a horse to warn them.
I wonder if George Washington Carver were one of our generation whether he would have estimated three hundred uses for the peanut, but never actually created them.
I wonder all this because our generation is one brimful of theories and ideas but sadly lacking in gumption, grit, and good old follow-through. This theory overkill is akin to studying the violin and all the theory that goes along with it (harmonics and sound waves and diminished arpeggios to boot!), but never actually picking up a bow or touching the instrument.
The result is that your brain is certainly stretched, but the silence is never altered by the music that you never make.
Likewise, we know it all. In fact, we wax eloquent on it all. And anything we don’t want to know about, we complain about. But there’s one simple thing we rarely do: we rarely act.
We leave the match unstruck next to the candle wick.
We leave the light switch turned off.
We leave the floodlights on our house dark.
We are a generation that has more knowledge than any before, yet indulge in passivity.
We leave the books unread.
We leave the lost untold.
We leave the exercising undone.
We leave the song unwritten.
We leave enslaved unfreed.
We leave the note unsent.
We leave the gifts God has given us tragically unused, still lying under the Christmas tree of our salvation.
“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”-James 4:17
All of those un-acted acts are a theoretical waste, but when will they become a literal waste to each of us?
Photo: h.koppdelaney
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Love this post, Lauren! :) All I can say is, "Amen!"....And, wince with a little bit of an ouch tagged on too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this convicting truth! I especially love the illustration using music. :) (And..."leaving the gifts from God unused under our 'Christmas tree'.")
ReplyDeleteVictoria--Thank you for your encouraging words! The conviction is definitely pointing at me, too!
ReplyDeleteMadi--You're welcome! Thanks for commenting--it brightened my day!
This is right on! As I'm raising children, I am more and more convinced that the low expectations society has of specifically teens are creating laziness and entitlement in our future adults. As Christians, we must be diligent to raise children with strong work ethic, joy in using and developing their gifts, and care for all ages and stages of life. Those are the children who will someday have a positive impact on our nation and world.
ReplyDeleteSO TRUE. This is an inspiration to act! Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDelete~Emily
Ali--It is such an important thing for Christian parents to raise their children with a desire to work and effect change! Praise the Lord you are doing so!
ReplyDeleteEmily--Great to hear from you! Thanks for your encouragement!
Lauren, this was an excellent post! Indeed we are called to action - in faith, in love, in working out our salvation, etc. Thank you for this call to action!
ReplyDeleteThis is a challenging post, and what I needed to hear! Great job, Lauren - thanks for writing it.
ReplyDelete