CLEOEJACKSONIII.COM
  • My Home Page
  • My Life and Ministry
  • My Ongoing Thoughts
  • My Favorite Bible Verses
  • My Favorite Stories
  • My Favorite Jokes
  • My Favorite Quotations
  • My Favorite Web Links
  • My Contact Info
"Helping Others Communicate"

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

4/11/2013

 
On Wednesday evenings at our church, we have been studying the lives of the Patriarchs from the Biblical book of Genesis.  We tend to think of them all as super saints.  In truth, however, there are very few families in the Bible which are more dysfunctional than that of Isaac and Rebecca.  We can learn a lot from their experiences – in regard both to how we should and how we should not behave.

Last night, we dealt specifically with the consequences of sin.  Little did Rebecca know when she hatched a deceitful plan for her son Jacob to deceive his father Isaac and get the blessing that was intended for his brother Esau that there would be consequences that would last her whole life. Of these, the most significant is that when Jacob left, at her bidding, to go live with his Uncle Laban, he would wind up being gone for years.  In fact, he would be gone so long that she herself would be dead long before he ever returned.
 
One cannot help but wonder what went through her mind night after night during all those years.  And the same is true for Jacob.  Remember that there were no telephones, no text messages, no e-mails, nor was there even a postal system for communication.  There simply would have been no communication between them.  

Years later, when Jacob eventually returned and learned of his mother’s death, one wonders whether he wished he could have said some things to her before she passed and just what these things may have been.

Years ago, a young man from Wisconsin named Berton Braley lost his father when he was seven years of age.  Later on in life, he himself  became a published author, with works appearing in Forbes Magazine, Harper's Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, and the Saturday Evening Post, as well as some twenty books.  His first love, however, was poetry.  Indeed, half of his published works were poetry collections. 

He is best remembered today for a poem he composed titled Do It Now.  I read it last night and thought I would post it here today.  
 
If with pleasure you are viewing
any work a man is doing,
If you like him or you love him, tell him now;
Don’t withhold your approbation
till the parson makes oration
And he lies with snowy lilies on his brow;

 

No matter how you shout it
he won’t really care about it;
He won’t know how many teardrops you have shed;
If you think some praise is due him
now’s the time to slip it to him,
For he cannot read his tombstone when he’s dead.


More than fame and more than money
is the comment kind and sunny
And the hearty, warm approval of a friend.
For it gives to life a savor,
and it makes you stronger, braver,
And it gives you heart and spirit to the end;


If he earns your praise – bestow it,
if you like him let him know it,
Let the words of true encouragement be said;
Do not wait till life is over
and he’s underneath the clover,
For he cannot read his tombstone when he’s dead.*


Having recently learned of the untimely death of one of my own childhood friends, I see more and more the importance of Mr. Braley’s admonition.  Life is short; opportunities are fleeting.  It behooves each of us to make the most of every single day.  
 
As Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 9:10:  
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”   What is true for our works is no doubt true for our words.  

In light of this, may we take full advantage of every opportunity we have to share our love for one another, taking special care to
“encourage one another and build each other up” (I Thessalonians 5:11).

*SOURCE:  
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2012/12/15/man
votional-do-it-now/

Comments are closed.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    Categories

    All