Lou Gehrig may not have died from Lou Gehrig’s disease. The Hall of Fame pro baseball player is the namesake for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a debilitating neurological disease that slowly paralyzes its victims and ultimately leads to death. New research reveals that Gehrig may not have had ALS, but exhibited similar symptoms due to blows to his head.
Gehrig was the legendary Iron-Man who played in 2,130 consecutive baseball games. He started one game the day after he was hit by a pitch, with a bump on his head so large that he wore George “Babe” Ruth’s larger cap. We praise Gehrig for his resolve to play through pain, but his commitment to baseball may have led to the disease that killed him. Gehrig was really good at what he did, but what he did may have ruined his life.
Is it worth it? (Ecclesiastes 4:8). This question nags at the young lawyer eating takeout as she proofreads documents deep into the night. Her job drains the joy from her life but she owes too much to the bank to do anything else.
Is it worth it? This question haunts the dreams of the traveling businessman. He’s making more money than he can responsibly spend, but he’s gone more than he’s home.
If you have drive and talent, most likely you’re good at what you do. But don’t let the good get in the way of what’s best. You owe it to God, yourself, and those who love you to ask the big question: ”Who am I working for?” (Ecclesiastes 4:8).
Is your career, business, or obsession with blogging or writing a novel keeping you from the people you love most? You may be really good at what you do, but what you do may be ruining your life. Is it worth it?
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Matthew 18:10-22
More:
Read Psalm 90 to discover how to become wise about life and making daily decisions.
Next:
List the most important people in your life. Do your choices typically help or hurt your relationships? What can you do right now—and long-term—to show them that they greatly matter to you? How can you show God that He matters most?
lindagma on July 26, 2011 at 6:17 am
Funny you should mention writing a novel. I have been trying to perfect one for years. I finally reached out to a self-publishing company in an effort to “get it out there” only to have second thoughts. Perhaps I jumped the gun. Since I backed off, I’ve felt relief. It will still get published but I have much to learn and I don’t feel so driven.
mike wittmer on July 26, 2011 at 8:05 am
lindagma:
I think you figured it out. That sense of relief you felt is the realization that your life doesn’t depend on the success of your novel. Now that you have clearly separated the two, you’ll be free to pursue publication without the burden of needing it to be a best seller. The better we are at something the more we want our efforts to succeed and the more we begin to identify with it–so the success of our work is often seen as a referendum on us. Just thinking out loud here–obviously I still struggle with this!
winn collier on July 26, 2011 at 10:20 am
thanks, Mike. I think you’ve voiced one of the core questions that plague us – but one that, unfortunately, we often only give enough space to provoke anxiety but not enough space to actually wrestle with it and take it to God.
jimgroberts on July 29, 2011 at 6:25 am
Good subject …. we all need to be reminded of our reason for living. When I was 16 I had a vision from the Lord. In it He said “Seek me”. I was a church-goer but not a personal relationship. I began searching but distractions came … girl-friends… marriage….family…. bigger house….better job….. Just like Job at a time when I thought I had everything but forgotten about my need for God, my wife left me for another and I literally lost everything.
In that moment I remembered the vision and earnestly sought God and He found me. Praise God.
Jesus says don’t even put your family above me. Mat 10:37
Again He said to his disciples who is my Mother, brother… it is those who do the will of God. Mat 12:48-50
I have learned to put my Saviour first and above all and to listen to Him.
“Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.” Mark 4:18-19