Commitment

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, (Philippians 3:13, NLT)

Luciano Pavarotti’s father was a baker who introduced him to the wonders of song as a young boy. He urged him to work very hard to develop his voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in his hometown of Modena, Italy, took him as a pupil. He also enrolled in a teachers college. On graduating, he asked his father, 'Shall I be a teacher or a singer?'

"'Luciano,' his father replied, 'if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.'

"I chose one. It took seven years of study before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it's laying bricks, writing a book--whatever we choose—we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that's the key. Choose one chair."

What is your purpose and commitment in life?

From the book DAY LIGHTERS by Nico Bougas. Available from Amazon.com

I Am a Lighthouse

It was a dark night off the Atlantic Coast, and the captain saw a disaster just ahead - a light that was on a collision course with his ship. There wasn't much time to get the other vessel to change course, so he urgently radioed this message: "Move ten degrees north immediately." The answer came back, "Move ten degrees south." Now this was no time for playing navigational games! With some growing aggravation, the captain answered back, "I'm a captain! You adjust your course ten degrees north." The reply came back: "I'm a seaman second class! Adjust ten degrees south." Well, at that point, the captain thundered his final word: "I'm a destroyer - adjust your course now!" And the answer came back: "I'm a lighthouse! Adjust your course!"

Don't try to move the lighthouse. Navigate with the lighthouse as your fixed point, unless you want to go aground. For those who belong to Jesus Christ, there is one lighthouse that is supposed to always govern what course we set. But over and over again, we set the course we want; often the course that is easiest and most convenient, ignoring the beam from the lighthouse that keeps us from ending up on the rocks.

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life. (John 8:12, NLT)