Basic Wisdom I Heard on Wednesday
My oldest son (Neal) graduated on Thursday from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. He graduated Summa Cum Laude. (Not that I’m proud of him or anything like that. As a friend of mine from Texas likes to say: “It ain’t braggin’ if it’s true!”)
The commencement speaker, Dr. Rick Rigsby, gave a great talk. Most graduation talks seem full of sappy platitudes (to me at least), but his struck me as deeply profound… not to mention hilarious.
His overall theme was encouragement to positively impact the institutions, culture, and neighborhoods of God’s world with God’s love. His recommended method for doing so wasn’t by dreaming big, daringly greatly, or “following your passion.” It was to focus on “the basics of life.”
The basic premise that I liked the most was: “You are what you do every day.” I couldn’t agree more. I came to the conclusion long ago that the sequence of events that dictate the trajectory of our lives goes like this:
How you think…
Leads to how you feel…
Leads to how you act…
Leads to your habits…
Shapes your character…
Determines the quality of your life…
Determines your destiny…
Defines your legacy…
You don’t have to be a rocket surgeon to see that our thinking is where it all starts. At the risk of high jacking Dr. Rigsby’s point, I think it’s safe to say “You are how you think every day.”
So, what are your thoughts about:
· The true character of God
· The whole point of Jesus’ life
· What does He want for us?
· What does He want from us?
· The reality of the Holy Spirit available to followers of Christ
· The source of true joy (Psalm 16:11, John 10:10, John 15:5-11, Galatians 5:22-23, to name a few)
· Is there a heaven? Is there a hell?
If this list of issues confuses you, keep seeking. Start Googling. Get to a great church. Crack open the bible. Buy a bible. This stuff is too important to have a vaguely formed opinion about.
Don’t be “intellectually lazy” about this. The quality of your life, your destiny and your legacy are on the line.
Go for it.