From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin
The New Zealand All Blacks are regarded as the best rugby team in the world and have been for decades.
One of their mantras is: Sweep the Shed.
It means that after every match, win or lose, no matter where they’re playing, every player helps clean the locker room, so it is left in the same condition in which they found it.
Also, at the recent World Cup men’s soccer championship in Quatar this past November and December, we saw the magnanimous efforts of the Japanese fans who diligently cleaned up the stadiums where their team played, regardless of the game result.
It’s one thing to have a motto and say you will do something: it’s altogether different when your words spring into action and follow through on their promise.
The apostle John put it this way in 1 John 3:17-18: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
We’ve all met those people who talk a big game but then fail to deliver.
Talk is cheap, as they say, if action doesn’t follow.
Have you ever visited someone at the funeral home and said something like, “Hey, John, if you need anything just call me”?
It sounds thoughtful, and it is, but it would better to say, “Hey, John, this is a difficult time for you. What do you need right now? Why don’t I take care of cutting your grass this week and I will have my wife drop off a prepared meal for your family in a few days.”
Folks let’s get proactive about leading by example and doing those things that others will see and imitate.
