Get out your matches and let's go!

“Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion.
You must set yourself on fire.”  

~~ by Arnold Glasgow ~~

 

Most of us would like to be successful.  But we probably all have different aspirations and thus, different ideas of what "success" would look like.  We have the notions of "success" hurled in our direction daily through the media:  tabloids, glitzy glamour magazines, billboards, television, radio, and the internet.  "Make more money!", "Lose more weight!", "Buy the latest fashions!", or "Be the star of your own reality show!" all give us ideas about what we need to do to be successful.  Seems to me that all of this just wears us out, because most of us will never fit that definition of "success." 

    So, it's no wonder we need to be pro-active with all of this "success" stuff; we're so exhausted from trying to sort out all of the voices screaming at us, that there will never be "spontaneous combustion" in our lives, for this or any other goal we might want to achieve.  My mama always used to tell me when I was a little girl:  "First you work, and THEN you play!"  And she meant business   ;o)  You know, the kind of mama who believed that if your behind had landed on a chair (or any other horizontal surface) before the task at hand was accomplished . . . . . well, here's your sign!  Get your little behind off the couch and finish the job.

One of her other favorite sayings (really, I WAS a kid once upon a time!) has stuck with me over the years, and I have realized how significant this is in daily life:  "Do what you're told, when you're told, the way you were told!"  Now that might seem a bit authoritarian and oppressive, but think about it.  That is LIFE!  There's a reason we have speed limit signs, and employment requirements, and school rules.  It's because they make life so much more pleasant for everyone.  That way we don't need to wonder every time we drive through a green light if we're going to get smashed by a semi going through the intersection.  Now, of course, that does happen, but when it does it is never a good thing, and it just proves the point. 

That's what parents are for; teaching our children how to "set themselves on fire" when that is necessary for success, as well as teaching them self-control when that is what is called for.  But when we become adults; when we are the parents, we need to be able to "set ourselves on fire" to accomplish whatever it is that God has set before us for this day, for this week, and for this lifetime.  We all know the classic definition of insanity:  doing the same thing over and over and expecting to get different results.  Waiting for "spontaneous combustion" to ignite underneath my behind while sitting on the couch eating chips and drinking cola will be a LONG wait.  Just isn't going to happen.

Got something to do?  Get out your matches and get started!  Today is the first day of your commitment to "setting yourself on fire" in your life and in your walk with the Lord.  Let's go! 

 

Please visit Karen at In L.O.V.E. with Jesus to find links to the other women's blogs who are participating this week with In Other Words. 

~by Arnold H. Glasow

Comments

[Karen Gillett]

I really liked your take on the quote today. We need to be teaching our kids how to set themselves on fire and to get off the couch. Your mom or grandma sounded like mine :) Thanks for sharing today.

[Tami Boesiger]

Do you think God plays a role in setting us on fire? Yes, we need to approach Him, but isn't He the one who motivates us? Most of the time I act out of obedience, not my own accord.

Of course, maybe I'm generally wimpy too.