Ask a Different Question

Good Morning,

I married into a family of car buffs. From antiques to exotics my father-in-law loved cars.  To him they weren’t some kind of status symbol, but something to be driven and enjoyed.  I can remember him going to pick up some Amish kids so they could ride in his Viper.  It brought smiles to those kid’s faces and to my father-in-law’s as well.  He understood something important. While some of those cars were quite valuable, they were still ultimately metal and rubber.  They did not define who he was or even what he had accomplished.

What a great lesson. Anything short of rooting our identity in who God says we are will fall short. Cars rust, careers get derailed, friends disappoint us, and riches sprout wings and fly away.  But what God thinks about is constant and unchangeable.  And the truth of that can, and should, change the way we live.

Instead of holding on to things with a tight grip, in fear of losing them, we would be far better off holding them loosely and living with a bit more gusto. Since our future is secure in Christ, we can live with the promise that absolutely nothing on this earth will come close to what we get to experience in eternity.  Things like our financial statement, or the job title we hold cannot possibly provide that assurance.

So as I have on occasion, let me remind you again of a few ideas that might bring more joy to your life, and quite possibly, to the lives of others around you.  Here we go.

Buy dinner or coffee for someone you don’t know, take the cruise, drive the car (and while you’re at it push harder on the accelerator), put down an exorbitant  tip, say “I’m sorry” more often, take a missions trip, try something you’re not sure you can do, turn off the news, join Toastmasters, launch a business, learn to cook, take a bold step of personal growth, measure your success based on obedience instead of results, have two dips of ice cream, go to a dude ranch, use the good dishes,… you get the idea.

Let me encourage you to start asking yourself a different question. Instead of “Why would I”, try asking, “Why not”?

Live this week on purpose,
Ron Klopfenstein