This comes by way of David Kanigan (blog | twitter) from his post Friday Night (long week) Reflection…:
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, “I used everything you gave me.” – Erma Bombeck
Even if you don’t believe in God, ask yourself the question, “Can I take any of it with me?” We know the answer to that: we can’t. In my case, I have a strong faith in Jesus Christ and based on what I read in Scripture, I know that I will have to stand before Him and give an account of my actions, of what I did with what He gave me. Should my faith prove to be correct, I want to be able to answer as Ms. Bombeck desired, that I used it all. Therefore, I seek to maximize every opportunity, every gift, every talent, every experience from here on out. I’ve thought this way for some time now.
Admittedly, this is easy to say but impossible to do. Still, it should be the goal of every one of us to make the most of everything we have. That’s not to say that we’re looking to become CEOs and retire by the time we’re 45. We all have different goals. So what I mean is putting everything into the areas of our lives that are most important to each of us. We can’t take it with us, so we should use every bit of who and what we are. We must give it everything. Otherwise, we will never be able to reach our maximum potential.
Thanks for sharing Brian. Great (very thoughtful) post. Dave