"Motivate"

Volumes have been written,

On ways to motivate,

Your own self and others,

To get us moving through the gate.

I’ll admit to using hot shots,

When loading cattle in my youth,

It was a bovine motivation,

And that’s nothing but the truth.

But how to get folks moving,

To get a worthy project done,

Equip ‘em to take action,

And even make it fun,

If you bear down hard on “ought to,”

Might work in the short term,

But folks feel so entitled,

Not likely they’ll hold firm.

It’s all about their “want to,”

And that’s a tricky deal,

And not just their mentality,

But about the way they feel.

The idea is find that button,

Or that trigger, if you will,

And try your best to pull it,

To only help them feel,

That what they should be doing,

Bring a greater good result,

Than what they have been doing,

But try not to insult,

‘Cause fussin’ ain’t the answer,

And shaming never is,

But encouraging sincerely,

And let me tell you this,

The Good Lord speaks it clearly,

What we sow that shall we reap,

And everything we give away,

Becomes just what we keep.

And God will fix our “want to,”

If we cooperate,

It will outrun our “ought to,”

And never makes us late.

So Lord have mercy on us,

Motivate us by your Spirit,

And help us get the right thing done,

Because we clearly hear it.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” (Galatians 6:7, NAS)

Clearly this verse and others like are all about motivation. God intends for us to honestly examine the choices we make and the results they produce. If one does not like the results they are getting, God’s counsel is to make better choices. If you don’t like your crop, plant better seeds. When you start to enjoy different results with the Spirit’s help, it becomes a great motivation to keep on sowing seeds to the Spirit. The harvest of blessing is the greatest motivator to keep planting seeds that produce good results.

Lord, help us plant wisely, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Bill Owen, used by permission. (cowhorsegallery.com) Thanks, and God bless.