Richard Craig, Author at GraceAndWorks - Page 40 of 59

It must have been around 1960 because we were still living on the farm. I was 10 or 11 years of age. My Dad was strict on getting work done. We always got up at 6 AM and usually quit around 6 PM. He had a plan and knew about how much could be done in a day. When the work was done, we could have some fun or do what we wanted. This story is about what happened one Saturday. Dad was working another field away from home and he had left me in charge of taking care of irrigating the alfalfa field. It was a fairly large field and was flat. We irrigated out of ditches, which is called flood irrigation. The water would come from the underground pump and flow through the ditch to the field. We would set canvasses in the ditch to stop the water and irrigate the field. When that part of the field had enough water, we would set another canvass further down the ditch and pull the one that we had been using.

Saturday afternoon there was a bus leaving from our small town to a larger town with a swimming pool. Dad had told me I could go, but, the water had to be set before I left and had to be reset when I got home. Well, everything was going fine through the morning. About 1:00 now and time to set a canvass and go swimming. I pulled the canvass that I was using and sent the water to the canvass down the ditch that I had set. To set a canvass, you had to take a shovel and poke the edges in the ground and then pack dirt all around the edges so it would hold when the water hit it. I was just hoping the canvass would hold because sometimes they didn’t and would have to be reset while the water was running down the ditch. Yeah–you guessed it–it DID NOT hold. Remember I’m only about 10 years old and now I have to fight the moving water and try to reset the canvass and get done quick enough to go swimming. The harder I worked the worse it got. FINALLY I got it reset and all was good, except, it was now too late to go swimming–the bus had already left. Disappointment set in. Then as I thought about what had happened, I knew Dad would be proud of me because the work was getting done. We’ll go swimming another day!!

God is strict about getting His work done also. He has so much planned for each one of us before we can go home. 12 years ago I had a heart attack and if it weren’t for God and the Doctors, I would not be here today. My conclusion was that I still had more of God’s work to do before I could be called Home. Today I do some preaching, teach adult Bible class 1 quarter per year, take care of this web site and individual teaching and consulting as needed. At 68 years of age I do what I can so when God says I have done enough, He will say, “Well done good and faithful servant you have earned the crown of life”, and he will call me Home with Him. Are you doing your share? And, is God be happy with what you are doing?

God’s work first and then it’s time to play!!

When I was a sales manager, I taught different types of closing techniques. One of my favorites is Alternative of Choice. I want to relate a story to you to show what I mean.

Back in the 1970’s when I lived in Sidney, Ne., I had a friend that was a car salesman. Here’s what he did when a customer would walk in: He would greet them and visit with them enough to make them feel comfortable. Then he started asking Alternate of Choice questions. Do you want a full size, mid size or compact? Do you want a two door or a four door? Do you want a dark, medium or light color? Do you want vinyl or cloth interior? Do you want a V6 or a V8 engine? As you can see, the customer was making choices that were suggested by someone else. At no time was there a choice given to say they didn’t want the car. Once all the initial criteria was gathered, he would go get the keys to the car best suited to what the customer wanted. On the north side of Sidney, there was a butte that overlooked the city. He would hand the customer the keys to the car and have them drive to the top of the butte. There he would have them get out of the car and stand beside it. He then would take their picture overlooking the city with them standing by the new car. He would now have them drive back to the dealership and take them into his office. He would sit them down and put the picture on the desk between them and tell them how great they looked with their new car. (They were done at this point) Next he would put all the numbers together so they were pleased with the price. When it came to paying for the car, the first question was: Do you want to pay cash or do you want financing? If it was financing, Do you want 36, 48 or 60 months? Once again the choice being made was given by someone else and there was no place to say they didn’t want the car. That folks is the art of sales and using the Alternate of Choice technique to it’s fullest. Husband and wife are out shopping and she tries on two dresses, a blue one and a green one. Question to hubby–should I keep the blue one or the green one. (Alternate of Choice used again)

What about when it comes to God? Do we have choices we can make? Or is it all God’s way? YES we make choices–God created us so we can. Here’s what God wants: Repent and be baptized, believe and be baptized, obey my commands and I’ll prepare for you a place, love your brother, don’t forsake the assembly of saints, commune with Him every week, and list goes on. As you see God wants the best for us. Here’s some of what Satin wants: Murderers, adulterers, drunks, druggies, disobedience toward God, homosexuals, and the list goes on. We have a choice to make every day in life–do we do it God’s way or do we do it Satin’s way? This is the same as we talked about before–Alternate of Choice and no way to say we don’t want either one. The choice here is, are we going to choose Satin and spend eternity with him or do we choose God and spend eternity in Heaven with Him? It’s YOUR choice!! Make it a wise one.