How to be “great” …

I used to fly a lot, but it’s now been a few years since I was last on an airplane.

That will change in a couple of weeks when I have to fly to St. Louis on business. Of course, flying has become so commonplace we rarely stop to ponder the incredible feat flight is — that of hurtling our way 30,000-feet high in the sky, at a few hundred miles an hour in a metal tube, and landing safely at our desired destination.

On time.

With our luggage in tow.

I don’t think the Wright brothers, who carried out the first really successful air flight, had the slightest inkling of how deeply their work of introducing flight to the world would impact humanity. But as far as the father of the Wright brothers was concerned, their contribution to flight wasn’t their greatest measure as men.

Wilbur and Orville Wright became household names with their successful flight at Kittyhawk in 1903. They came from a close family, even though their father, a bishop in the United Brethren Church, was initially skeptical about their venture. Wilbur would die at the age of 45, and his father left a record of the tragic event in his diary. The entry read: “May 30, 1912. This morning at 3:15, Wilbur passed away, aged 45 years, 1 month, and 14 days. A short life, full of consequences. An unfailing intellect, imperturbable temper, great self-reliance and as great modesty, seeing the right clearly, pursuing it steadily, he lived and died.”

For Wilbur’s father, it was not making the first successful air flight that made Wilbur great, but his fine character.

Bishop Wright understood something we (especially many church leaders) often miss today: It’s who we are that defines us, not what we do. It’s who we are that is of greatest importance, not the size or scope of our achievements or contributions we make. Bishop Wright’s diary entry rings close to the wisdom we find in scripture …

Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold. – Proverbs 22:1

Of all the things we could be known for, feats we could pursue, or grand things to be tried, it’s living a godly life that is the great calling of God on our lives and it’s living a godly life that He equips us for, enables us to achieve, and challenges us to strive for all the days of our lives …

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. – 2 Peter 1:3-9

The greatest pursuit you could ever have is to know God and live a godly life. Is that your life’s grand pursuit?

Scotty