Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Changing how we think



A young man got his first job. It was painting a white line down the middle of the highway. 

The boss showed him how to do it. 

On day one the young man painted fifty metres. He was so proud of his work. And the boss was pleased. He bought the young man a beer at knock-off time. 

On day two, however, the young man painted twenty metres, and on day three only ten. 

The boss was a bit surprised. So he took the young man aside and said, “Listen, mate; how come you painted fifty metres on the first day, twenty on the second and only ten today?” “I’m sorry, boss,” the young man replied. “Can’t you see that the tin of paint is getting further and further away?” 

The young man’s progress was limited by his thinking . . . in this case, by his idea that the tin of paint could only be in one place, and that he had to keep going back to it. 

Of course his life changed for the better, and he achieved a whole lot more, when the boss showed him that he could move the tin of paint along, or even keep it with him all the time! 

The way he worked those first three days is like the way we live. That is, until someone shows us a new way of thinking. Then, and only then, do we see what is really possible. 

We all know what it is like to be held back by limited thinking.

In fact, we have all been held back by limited thinking about God.   

Some of us, stumbling across what God has revealed about himself, his love, his presence, and the relationship he wants to establish with us, have experienced a revolution in the way we approach our daily lives. 

In fact, last Sunday’s celebration of the Three-in-One should have blasted us into a new way of living just as dramatically as when that young man discovered the truth about the tin of paint! 

Jesus showed us that at the heart of the universe is a communion of love - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Everything he said and did - his teaching, his ministry, his death and his resurrection - was with the aim of drawing US into that same communion and then “making it visible” in our world so that the work of transformation will contine. 

We CAN know the “fullness of life” Jesus spoke about (John 10:10), and we CAN learn to deal with our difficulties and problems by drawing on the resources of eternity. 

But we have to learn to think right!


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