The ONE THING for today

Stay focused on what’s scribbled on the back of your business card

  • Luke 12:13-14 (NLT) Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.”   Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” 

Harold Myra and Marshall Shelley in their book, The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham, also discussed other great leaders.  One of them was Ronald Reagan.  They write:

Cover of "The Leadership Secrets of Billy...
Cover of The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham
“Ronald Reagan was known for being a big-picture leader.  As political commentator Richard Brookhiser put it, “The economist Milton Friedman daydreams about an income tax return so simple it could be printed on a postcard.  Reaganism could be jotted down on the back of a business card.”  
It was essentially “Defeat communism and cut taxes.”  What didn’t fit on the card, Bookhiser said, could safely be ignored.  
Reagan speechwriter Patrick Buchanan remembers sitting in on a cabinet-level debate over grain exports.  While a heated argument raged between Secretary of State George Shultz and Secretary of Agriculture John Block, Reagan concentrated on a bowl of jellybeans, picking out his favorite colors.  Buchanan remembers thinking, “What in heaven’s name is with this guy?”  Reagan caught Buchanan’s eye and winked, which Buchanan interpreted to mean, “They’re having an argument here, and I’m not getting into it.” 

That’s great advice for all of us.  Using only a business card, write on the back why God has put you here for this time and this season and stay focused on that.  You don’t have to get involved in every issue, cause and argument.  Matter of fact you shouldn’t.

Trust me, God knows you so well that He’s given you a job to do that you have just enough strength to do it (See Matthew 6:34).  Stay focused on what you’ve scribbled on the back of your business care and leave the rest to God—you don’t have to get involved in every argument; matter of fact, you shouldn’t.

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pastorkemp

These are the random musings of a man whose goal is to make Jesus the paramount pursuit of my life who, while in this effort, is writing down a few lessons I've learned along the way. You'll have to decide if they are worth heeding but at least you may learn a few things not to do.

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