I started writing a manuscript entitled, “You Think Too Small.” I can see the cover page already. You think too small! I think too small. Our thinking both restricts and determines the life we live. You’re living according to the way you think. You may not like to hear that. It isn’t always that we dream too small; we dream big dreams, but we don’t believe those big things. They’re too fantastic; it was only a dream.
I was inspired by something I saw and heard the other night about Tim Tebow. I’ve always thought highly of him from the time he came in and played his first game as a substitute quarterback for the Florida Gators. He was a substitute, and even then at the end of that first game, they wondered if he could really make it . . . as a starter . . . at Florida! The experts questioned his abilities. I looked at the kid and said, “This guy is incredible; he’s fantastic! What do they mean, ‘Can he make it as a starter’? Not only is he great, he’s inspires everything and everyone around him. Are you kidding me?” He went on to win the Heisman Trophy. Should of, could of, probably would have won it two years in a row, if . . . oh anyway . . . two championships . . . he goes on to the NFL . . . can he really make it in the NFL?
When did Tim Tebow first dream about playing football as a quarterback in the NFL? He was six years old when he started dreaming about that. At five years old, he was nearly killed. He was swept away in rip currents with his brother and had to be saved. Nearly drowned. At six he began to dream. How old is he now? I think twenty-three?
He dreamt for seventeen years. Do you think he’s good enough to be a starter in the NFL? I do. I think he’s great enough to be anything he wants to be. He could do anything in the world that he wanted to do. Now some of us older folks are saying, “All of that energy wasted on youth.” Well, I have news for every one of you. There’s still time to do or be whatever you’re capable of dreaming. I will continue to remind you that Moses didn’t really get going until he was eighty! That’s good news for many of us. Abraham was seventy-five.
I was talking with someone this week about Abraham. They said, “Abraham left everything to follow God.” No he didn’t. My Bible says he took it all with him. That’s something to ponder. He took his possessions, his livestock, and his family. You see, sometimes we think we have to leave every single thing behind to follow Jesus. No, we don’t. Abraham left his land. He left his house. God gave him more houses, just like Jesus has promised you and I if we’re willing to give it up. He’ll give you houses, plural.
But see, we restrict ourselves. Our ambition is, “Man, if we can just live in a house long enough to pay it off.” I don’t know. That’s not my dream. I don’t intend for it to take thirty years to pay it off. That just doesn’t fit into my line of thinking. But if it does yours, then that’s fine, or maybe you’ve already paid yours off. The point is that our thinking determines our lives.
Your attitude is determined by your thinking . . . your behavior . . . the atmosphere in which you live. The environment in which you live is determined by your thinking AND by your ability to dream as well.
Let’s look at Ephesians 2:10, a very familiar passage, but it relates to the message on dreaming.
“We are God’s own handiwork, His workmanship, we are created in Christ Jesus, born anew, that we may do those good works which God predestined, planned beforehand, for us, taking the paths, that He prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live.”
We’ll break down the verse written above in the next blog. In the meantime, start pressing in to God and capture HIS heart and mindset regarding your life and your future!
~ pg
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