BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

Blog: Max Dawson
July 10, 2017
Our last couple of blogs have focused on Nehemiah. He was the king’s cup bearer in Persia, but became the construction leader in Jerusalem. He was a man with the ability to see what others did not see. He saw that the walls of Jerusalem could be rebuilt. He saw that task–and completed that task in only 52 days.
While others might have made excuses about why the walls were not rebuilt, Nehemiah just did it! No excuses. Just got to work. Rallied the workers. Completed the job.
One of the factors that contributed to his success was that he began with the end in mind. That means he had it fixed in his mind that the walls and gates of the city were going to be finished. In his mind, he could see what the job looked like when it was complete. With that picture firmly fixed in his thinking, he would allow no interference or hindrance to stand in the way of the finished task.
A leader can be successful only if he has the end in mind that he wants to reach.
In Alice in Wonderland, Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, “Would you tell me which way to go from here?”
The cat said, “That depends on where you want to go.”
Alice replied, “I don’t much care where.”
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go” was the cat’s response.
THE FINAL WORD
You’ve got to care which way you are going in life, then develop a plan to get there. That’s what Nehemiah did with respect to rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.
With no plan, you have no direction. Paul Meyer of Waco-based Success Motivation International said that about 3% of Americans feel they have achieved what they really want in life. He further said, that those 3% typically had written life-goals and had formulated a plan to reach them. They began with the end in mind!
Nehemiah began with the end in mind. The Apostle Paul had the same kind of mindset. Hear his words in .
“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
The great apostle lived his life with the end in mind. I trust that you do too.
Blessings to you, my faithful friends,
–Max