Be
“If you want to be happy, be.” ~ Leo Tolstoy
In The Shawshank Redemption, one of the characters says that a person has to get busy living or get busy dying. Our choices have consequences and our choices imply action. Leo Tolstoy would agree with that sentiment in today’s quote, “If you want to be happy, be.” We cannot be happy if we wait for something to happen. Waiting implies inaction. And inaction inevitably leads to decay and ruin. Happiness implies action, implies being.
So many people concentrate on the day that they become holy yet, at the same time, do nothing about their holiness. They simply wait, apparently, for God to zap some holiness into them. Yet, holiness implies action. In order to be holy, we need to be busy about doing God’s work. If we do not attend to our responsibilities in the faith, we cannot expect to grow in the faith.
Lent is just around the corner. This would be a good time to think about what we want in our faith lives. Do we desire to improve our prayer life? This would be the time to set a plan in place during the season of Lent to learn different styles prayer. Would you like to become a better servant? Now is the time to look at different opportunities available to you locally so that you may volunteer somewhere during Lent? Do you want to be more loving or forgiving? Search your heart and determine the grudges you hold and the people you exclude and make a plan to forgive and include.
Holiness is not easy. But, holiness is doable. Plan how it might come about for you.
FAITH ACTION: What have you been putting off because you were waiting for something to happen? Make it happen today.