Genesis Series (1): Personal Universe

Many texts have been written to teach us about setting goals and how to achieve them. The primary text that I use in this blog to explore this and other topics is The Bible. 


Text: Genesis 1


There is a certain refrain and a rhythm as we look into the book of Genesis.

• God said, "Let it be."

• And it was so.

• And God saw that it was good.

... well, except for us humans; He thought we were great. Our greatness lay in the fact that we were made in His image, imago Dei. We are not divine, but we are made of "divine stuff." There is a Hebrew word, tselem, meaning less than and not identical to the model. We are very much like the model, God, in many ways, but not exactly. We have Divinity within us, whether we choose to exhibit it in our daily lives or not.


When God created the universe, He envisioned and subsequently created a world that would honor His designs and desires. God created the Universe out of nothing; literally no thing.


So, today's question is: What is your vision made of?


What do you want to make of yourself and your life? The simplest answer is that it is made of all the things that make you, you. It is a combination of your:

• Talents
• Gifts
• Experiences- good and bad
• Stuff you have accumulated
• People, contacts you have made
• Senses, emotions
• Feelings
• Jobs you had. Offices you've held.
• Etc.

One of the most important lessons we can take from Genesis as we watch God create the heavens and all else, is that this was a personal mission. And, we need to make our goals and our vision personal. To stay motivated long enough to get to the completion of our goals, the goals must be important to us, not our boss, not to our parents or our neighbors. We have to feel it.


So, how does this help us cast our own vision for a better future?


We have to go back to basics: Who, what, when, where, how and why.


Who

• Who do I want to become?
• Who will I be in 5 years, 10 years? What will I be doing that's different than what I am doing today? How will I be different?
• Who will I choose to help hold me accountable?

What

• What is my purpose?
• What do I want to accomplish?

When

• What is my timetable? When do I want to have this completed? Or started?

Where

• Where am I doing this thing? Home, church, work, community?

How

• How will I do this?
• What additional resources will I need?
• What is my first actionable step? Every thing starts with one step. You can never accomplish a thing, if you never make a step toward it.
• What is step #1 and when will I get this step done? What is my deadline?

Why

• Why do I want to do this? This to me is the very heart of the matter…
• What are my core beliefs, and where does this fit in?

Write

• This is the most important step.
• Why is that important?
• It is important so that you can go back and review, keep yourself accountable and on-task, to mark your progress, to have a new starting point in case if you "fall off the wagon."

What else would you add to this list to get yourself moving?




Pick one thing that’s been on your mind, and get started today!


Actually, what I am asking you to do is to commit to challenging yourself to get up today and get started...

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